Sophos announces new partnership with Distribution Central
Sydney, Australia, 30 May, 2012 – IT security and data protection company, Sophos has today announced that it has signed a distribution agreement with Firewall Systems, the specialist security business unit of Distribution Central, a leader in technology distribution and channel services, to deliver its security solutions across Australia.
The agreement is Sophos’s first direct distribution agreement in Australia and forms part of the company’s strategy to focus on innovation and investment in its partner ecosystem. This new partnership follows Sophos’s recent announcement as SC Magazine’s Security Vendor of the Year and builds on Sophos’s regional growth strategy. It will greatly benefit both Sophos’s Australian partners, resellers and customers – including greater efficiencies with back-end logistics, partner training and enablement – all being key components of the arrangement.
Sophos will continue to provide direct technical support to its Australian customers through its global network of SophosLabs experts who monitor threats, attacks and legitimate applications 24/7/365.
According to Stuart Fisher, Managing Director of Sophos Asia-Pacific, the company has partnered with Firewall Systems because of its experience as a security distributor, detailed knowledge of the security market, as well as its success and major growth in the last five years.
“Sophos is very excited to be working directly with Distribution Central as the company has a strong reputation for implementing best of breed systems to support the delivery of our security solutions,” said Fisher. “Firewall Systems has specific, in-depth knowledge of the local security landscape and will be positioning Sophos highly within its team, investing in a dedicated Sophos security team.”
Firewall Systems will distribute the complete range of Sophos solutions including Endpoint Security, Encryption and Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Web and Email Protection, Mobile Control and Sophos Network Security and Unified Threat Management (UTM).
Nick Verykios, Managing Director at Distribution Central believes the Australian IT channel will benefit from this agreement, enabling access to Sophos’s leading security solutions with the support of Firewall System’s award winning channel services.
“We are focused on bringing Sophos’s superior technology to our highly skilled reseller base and supporting their own customer development initiatives with our pre sales, post sales, license management, renewals management, transaction optimisation, market development, technical assurance and vendor certification services. This partnership represents a significant development in the Australian IT channel and we expect our partners will benefit from this refreshing new opportunity in the technology sector.”
The distribution agreement will take effect on 3 July, 2012 with immediate benefits to resellers and customers.
About Sophos
More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing security and data protection solutions that are simple to manage, deploy and use and that deliver the industry’s lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award-winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, mobile and network access control solutions backed by SophosLabs – a global network of threat intelligence centres. With more than two decades of experience, Sophos is regarded as a leader in security and data protection by top analyst firms and has received many industry awards.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.
About Distribution Central
Distribution Central provides specialised, technical-service oriented distribution and channel support for contemporary IT products, including our custom-built Software-as-a-Service solutions that create real efficiencies and business benefits for our customers.
Distribution Central is an industry first, in that it is dedicated to servicing the vendor whilst our independent, specialised business units manage the reseller channel. This unique approach enables Distribution Central and its vendor partners to capitalise on all IT distribution opportunities in the Australian, New Zealand and Singapore markets, without diluting the high level of specialisation required to service complex technology markets.
Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, with branch offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth, Auckland and Singapore, Distribution Central’s business units include Firewall Systems, NetWorld Systems, SAN Systems, Unity Systems, Annuity Systems and Red Education – a certified training centre for the vendors these business units represent.
Media Contact:
Amanda Conroy
Espresso Communications
+61 422 472 883
Anthia Crosby
Espresso Communications
+61 2 8016 2200
