Trend Micro is putting its money where its mouth is at this year’s Gitex as it tries to boost security support for its high end customers. Prior to the start of the show, the anti-virus and internet content security vendor declared its intention to support customers with a virus response service level agreement (SLA). Customers that have signed up for Trend’s Premium Support Programme (PSP) will be entitled to claim penalties against the vendor if it fails to meet its commitments in terms of virus alert/response and delivery of patent/bandage files under the SLA.“With this announcement we are putting a stake in the ground,” says Justin Doo, managing director, Middle East, Africa and Benelux countries, Trend Micro.“Anybody can make claims about response times and the delivery of patent files, but can they back it up? This is what we are doing… This is backed by money,” he adds.Trend Micro’s SLA strategy has been inspired by customer feedback. To date the anti-virus market has been reactive in nature. But a shift to a more proactive footing will enable Trend Micro to be more responsive in two key areas — the containment and clear up time after a virus infection and the delivery of a status report to the end user. The effectiveness of containment and clear up largely depends on the delivery and installation of the patent and bandage files. Trend Micro is accelerating this process through a series of partnerships to deliver ‘inclusive’ security fixes that includeservice packs for popular operating systems or messaging platforms. “If a virus is taking advantage of an older system without the service pack, we will be able to deliver the service pack and the necessary patent file to the customer,” says Doo.Trend Micro is also partnering with firewall vendors to enhance its content filtering and the effectiveness of its bandage files. “This is the start of a string of product, service and partnership announcements that customers can expect this quarter… We’re doing a lot,” says Doo.
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