The bundle includes Dell PowerEdge servers, PowerVault storage, Dell/EMC Storage, Symantec Mail Security 200 Series, Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange, Symantec Enterprise Vault, and Backup Exec. The bundle is targeted at the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) market, with 100 or more email users.
In many technology areas there is a lack of products targeted at the SME market, and email management is certainly one area where larger organizations tend to benefit from a lower cost per seat for products such as anti-virus and anti-spam software solutions. Smaller organizations also tend to be much more shortsighted, and are likely to implement solutions in an ad hoc manner, rather than seeking to deploy a total solution using a phased approach.
For example, an organization may purchase Exchange, and put it on an existing server without considering how emails are going to be protected from viruses and spam until the product is up and running. Organizations also tend to ignore the issue of how they are going to manage growing volumes of email, and end up having to either limit the size of inboxes or continually add extra storage resources, resulting in unmanageable email systems.
It can also be difficult for smaller organizations to afford the cost of implementing several products to create an end-to-end solution, both in terms of the licenses and the resources required to manage and maintain such a solution.
This is not the first email management bundle to be offered, but what is a differentiator for Dell and Symantec is that it combines hardware, software, and services. The services element is delivered via a Secure Exchange, which has been created by Dell to provide a reference architecture comprising a modular step-by-step blueprint on how to deploy hardware and software, based on customer requirements. This should provide a valuable resource to organizations that do not have the expertise to implement a solution on their own, and cannot afford the cost of buying in services. At the same time as helping organizations to deploy Exchange, it also enables them to improve their existing environments and implement an email management solution.
In addition to the services, Dell also provides hardware, including storage from EMC. On the other hand, Symantec provides software that goes beyond just providing anti-virus and anti-spam functionality. It also addresses the growing email volumes that organizations have, and the increasing management problems caused by very large, live email systems by providing email archiving through Enterprise Vault, and the ability to discover emails, helping organizations to manage compliance issues.
There is a shortage of solutions that are specifically targeted at the SME market. Although the services element will be a huge help to smaller organizations, the two companies need to ensure that the licensing of these products is provided at an affordable price for the SME market.
Source: OpinionWire by Butler Group (www.butlergroup.com)