McAfee repackages security products

McAfee on Monday plans to announce a repackaging of its security products for businesses, promising software that is easier to buy, install, manage and run.

The Santa Clara, Calif., company is phasing out its current product lineup for business customers and is introducing McAfee Total Protection. The new name holds much of the existing McAfee security software, such as antivirus, antispyware, firewall and spam protection, but the company has improved integration and manageability, it said.

McAfee will offer four flavors of McAfee Total Protection, two aimed at organizations with more than 100 computers that need protection, and two for smaller organizations, the company said. The versions for large organizations are due on April 17, the two editions for smaller users on April 25.

With the repackaging, McAfee is building on its existing strategy to offer products that are integrated and can be centrally managed. "We are redefining the way customers acquire, deploy, manage and operate security products," said Vimal Solanki, a McAfee spokesman.

McAfee's security bundles let users install multiple protective technologies at once. These include reactive protection against common threats, such as viruses, worms and spyware, as well as proactive protection technologies, such as a firewall.

For the first time, McAfee is adding host-intrusion prevention to its product bundles for larger organizations, called McAfee Total Protection Enterprise, Solanki said. The top-end bundle, McAfee Total Protection Enterprise-Advanced, also gets network access control, another first, Solanki said.

Furthermore, host-intrusion prevention is making its debut in McAfee's central management console, the ePolicy Orchestrator. The intrusion prevention software had its own management console--integration with ePolicy Orchestrator has been a long requested feature, Solanki said.

For smaller organizations, McAfee is adding a hosted e-mail security service to the product bundle. These bundles are called McAfee Total Protection for Small Business-Advanced and McAfee Total Protection for Small Business.

While McAfee is bundling its products, customers can still cherry-pick and choose not to purchase antivirus, for example, Solanki said.

But bundling is the future, said Yankee Group analyst Andrew Jaquith. "This is probably the most important announcement McAfee has made all year," he said. "It is a good announcement for them and a good announcement for the industry. (It) helps make this idea mainstream that this is the future."

Although Spain's Panda Software was sooner than McAfee with deep integration of its security software, McAfee still leads its main rivals Symantec, Trend Micro and Computer Associates, Jaquith said.

"Symantec has articulated a roadmap that will do similar kinds of things. However they have quite a bit integration to do until they get there," he said, pointing to several acquisitions Symantec has done, including WholeSecurity, PlatformLogic and Sygate. "I believe they are nine months behind McAfee."

[Jim Hubbard]

After deleting user's applications....what else could they do?

After McAfee deleted user apps like Flash Player, Excel and hundreds of others due to a glitch in thier antivirus product, they have essentially trashed thier own name.

This is the real reason for the rename...to try and hide from the fiasco that trashed the McAfee name in the first place.

"McAfee, of Santa Clara, Calif., released the erroneous .DAT file 4715 with definitions for a wide range of new malware threats. When the update was installed, it quarantined or deleted hundreds of innocuous?and important?applications, including Microsoft Excel, Adobe Systems' Macromedia Flash Player and Adobe Update Manager, and Google's Google Toolbar installer." (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1938898,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594)

Whatever they name it.....it's still the company that deleted your desktop applications and caused untold hours of OS repair to fix thier screw-up.

Not mine

McAfee didn't delete ANY of my software or data files.

But then - I CONTROL MY COMPUTER, not the other way round.

Just another occassion where all I did was to correctly configure my software . Same goes for security - I can run Winblows & IE securely, if my hardware/software is configured correctly.

I retain control.

[becareful]

Tried Them With Great Anguish

Had McAfee and paid premium dollars for corporate account. When had problem they would not return my e-mails, phone calls from support. Even Sales Dept. would not return my calls.
Went to GREAT and Cheaper support from TrendMicro.
McAfee did send me a high price bill for renewal when the license term expired. Was happy to throw it in the round file.

[becareful]

Great Advertising ONLY

Had problems with McAfee causing network system crashes. Tech support or Sales would not return e-mails or phone calls for a corporate licensed customer.
Went to TrendMicro with lower price and much better support.
Did get a renewal bill from McAfee. Needless to say where I filed it.