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Stonesoft Customer Newsletter

The Stonesoft Newsletter is an email publication that provides up-to-date information on new Stonesoft products, promotions, upcoming events, case studies, and other company-related news. The most recent issue is available below. If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, please subscribe here.

Stonesoft Customer Newsletter Issue 2, 2009

kim_fagernas_15x150 Dear Customer,

This spring we have been busy with the launch of StoneGate 5.0 offering new features and enhancements that make the administration of distributed organizations easier and more efficient than ever before.

Our solutions are designed to meet the needs of today’s businessesimproving efficiency and helping organizations achieve significant savings in operational, infrastructure and communications costs. Based on your valuable feedback and comments, we are certainly on the right track. Our StoneGate solutions help MSSPs to make money and companies to secure their information flow with higher ROI and lower TCO and TCA.

I am happy to inform you that there is yet more to come. We are getting ready to launch the new high-end StoneGate appliance models with improved performance and significantly lower energy consumption.

On behalf of Stonesoft, I would like to wish you a nice summer!

With Best Regards,

Kim Fagernäs

Vice President
Stonesoft Corporation

Summary

Company News

Stonesoft in the News

Customer Highlights Featured Whitepaper

Product News

Training News

Partner News

Tip of the Month


Company News

Tekes Funding for Stonesoft´s Research and Development Project


Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, has decided to fund Stonesoft Corporation’s research and development project ”The protection of fast networks of critical infrastructure” with more than a million euro. The funding is allocated over three years so that the majority is granted for the years 2009 and 2010.

”This research and development project ensures that the performance of Stonesoft’s products will meet the requirements of the most demanding environments also in the future. We are very pleased with the funding decision of Tekes, because the granted funding considerably accelerates the completion of the project. We believe that this acceleration will clearly improve the competitiveness of our products”, says Ilkka Hiidenheimo, the CEO of Stonesoft.

Read more about the project here.

Stonesoft´s Annual Report 2008 is Published


The Annual Report of Stonesoft Corporation for 2008 has been published in English and in Finnish. Both documents are available in PDF format by clicking the link.

Stonesoft Achieves Common Criteria EAL4+ Certification for Firewall Appliance Family


Stonesoft´s flagship StoneGate Firewall/VPN has received the Common Criteria Evaluation Assurance Level EAL 4+ certification. The EAL 4+ is the highest commercially feasible certification level. The Common Criteria certification is a globally recognized, independent security standard that is globally ratified in 26 countries. More and more organizations with high security demands rely on the certification when making investment decisions. Common Criteria certified products have undergone and passed extensive and rigorous independent third-party testing, giving customers assurance that the product meets the security requirements defined in the Security Target evaluation document.

For more information about the certification, please click here.

Latest News from Stonesoft France


In this issue, Leonard Dahan, Country Manager for Stonesoft France & Benelux, outlines the latest developments and market opportunities for 2009 in France & Benelux.

Can you map out Stonesoft’s organizational structure in your region?

We like to say that Stonesoft is a French-Finnish company, because the Stonesoft France team consists of over 30 people, with part of the R&D team working in Sophia-Antipolis and the sales team in Levallois-Perret. We are one of the most representative players in the security market in France. Stonesoft uses an indirect business model to market its solutions via resellers specializing in network security. At the beginning of 2009, we set up a two-tiered model to drive the market through two value-added wholesalers, ITWAY and MAGIRUS in France, together with LOGIX for Benelux.

How is the security market faring in France & Benelux?

The French security market is  very mature. In addition to the main players, there are a number of local players that are very active. Generally, customers want products that can cover the entire security infrastructure. Even though we often encounter the same competitors, we need to make a real effort to optimally position ourselves and win the trust of new customers. Fortunately, the StoneGate solutions enable us to distinguish ourselves from conventional players and offer our customers true added value. Also, the fact that our technical teams are close by and accessible to our customers and partners is often the deciding factor that helps us gain their trust.

What are the benefits for Stonesoft resellers?

At the end of 2008, Gartner positioned Stonesoft in the “Challenger” segment of its Magic Quadrant; this comes on top of five half-years of double-digit growth in Europe, confirming our position as the only credible European player to realistically challenge the market leaders. This means Stonesoft constitutes a real alternative for resellers desiring to distinguish themselves from the crowd with a robust product range, which has been EAL4+ certified since 2003 and offers exceptional TCO. The latest significant references are confirming this trend. In addition, the responsiveness and flexibility of our sales and pre-sales teams confirm our day-to-day commitment to our resellers.

What are your major competitive advantages today?

Our Virtual Appliance VMware certification enables us to play an active role in the security solutions market for VMware environments. This gives us an extremely broad and unique product range with a genuine choice between Appliance, Software or Virtual Appliance solutions – all centrally managed via the same management console, StoneGate Management Center (SMC). Our SMC also offers a solution for MSSPs and Corporate Accounts to help them optimize their day-to-day operations for multi-site environments.

We have developed a Total Cost of Administration (or TCA) model for our customers. This project involved the participation of several of our European customers with between 30 and 235 remote sites managed via our management console. Their feedback revealed that an average of about six minutes a month are required to operate a remote site. That means it only takes 13% of an employee’s daily time to manage 235 remote sites per month.

This ratio is distinctly lower than the standard for the market and we would naturally be delighted to exchange views on the content of this study with interested partners and customers.
This study enabled us to conclude two large-scale contracts in the distribution sector at the end of 2008 (one with 865 sites worldwide and the other with 350 sites in France).

What is your outlook for the year 2009?

Under regular circumstances, security is generally considered the IT sector’s “poor relation”, so it came as no surprise during this period of financial crisis to observe a definite slowdown in our customers’ decision-making process since the last quarter. On the positive side, our technical teams have had more time to devote performing advanced tests on our platforms, which allows us to maximize the value of our TCO and TCA. Business remains steady nonetheless and we are encountering a substantial level of customer demand. As a result, I am confident that security will still be a strategic priority for enterprises in the second half of 2009.

StoneBlog: Stonesoft goes 2.0


There is nothing better than open and interactive communication. To encourage this, we have launched StoneBlog, the new community unifying StoneGate customers, partners and employees from around the world. StoneBlog (http://stoneblog.stonesoft.com) is the place where you can find the latest news, information, discussions, hints, tips, and tutorials about StoneGate solutions. StoneBlog is moderated by Stonesoft employees, however information can be contributed, published, and discussed by everyone interested. Visit StoneBlog, to read what's already available, register to contribute and come back often to see it growing with lots of interesting and useful information.
We are waiting for you there - StoneBlog Admin Team.

Stonesoft in the News



Customer Highlights


VPN Delivers the Goods


Network downtime can be devastating for any business, but for AIT Worldwide Logistics, it can be catastrophic. As a global transportation and logistics provider specializing in heavyweight and perishable shipments, AIT’s network is just as important as the railways, highways, airways and maritime lanes it uses to ship goods. A single day’s worth of network downtime can easily equate to $2 million in lost revenues and thousands of lost shipments.

AIT decided to implement Stonesoft’s StoneGate solution primarily because of its patented Multi-Link(TM) technology, which ensures seamless virtual private network (VPN) failover in the event of Internet access outages or lost connections between firewalls and outside networks.

Read more about the AIT Worldwide Logistics case here.

Featured Whitepaper


Achieving Network Nirvana:
How to Reduce Complexities and Costs While Optimizing Security and Performance Whitepaper


IT leaders are faced with formidable goals in 2009’s tough economic climate – they must look for ways to reduce complexities and costs while further optimizing network security and performance to meet expanding organizational demands.

Based on feedback and actual analysis with Stonesoft customers, this paper will help IT leaders understand how they can gain significant savings in the following areas: administration, hardware and infrastructure, and communication.

Register to download this whitepaper.

Product News


NewVoiceMedia Ensures PCI Compliance in the Cloud using Stonesoft StoneGate Firewall/VPN


NewVoiceMedia, a leading European provider of hosted contact centre solutions, has chosen Stonesoft’s  StoneGate Firewall/VPN products to provide network security, PCI DSS compliance and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) support for its customers. In an industry where business continuity is mission critical, NewVoiceMedia also required a resilient firewall solution that would prevent its hosted telephony services from any downtime.

Read more about the NewVoiceMedia case here.

Leading Industry Analyst Firm Positions Stonesoft in its Network IPS Appliances Magic Quadrant


Gartner, Inc. has positioned Stonesoft in the Niche Players quadrant in the Network Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) Appliances Magic Quadrant report. Gartner evaluates vendors based on their ability to execute and completeness of vision.

“We are proud that Gartner has recognized Stonesoft in the network IPS appliances market,” said Klaus Majewski, Vice President of Marketing at Stonesoft. "We believe this evaluation validates the increasing awareness of the strengths of the StoneGate IPS solution. Our commitment is to deliver the next generation technologies needed to optimize the security, availability and manageability of today’s critical networks.”

Read more about the positioning of StoneGate IPS in the Gartner Magic Quadrant here.


StoneGate 5.0 Offers New Revenue Opportunities for Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs)


Stonesoft has recently launched StoneGate Management Center 5.0 and StoneGate Firewall 5.0, offering new revenue opportunities and cost savings for MSSPs.

The StoneGate Management Center 5.0 introduces new features and enhancements that support the workflow of MSSPs and offers their customers unparalleled visibility to their hosted environment.

The current business climate requires extreme cost efficiency. StoneGate Management Center 5.0 streamlines MSSPs’ administration processes and lowers their operational costs.

Read more about StoneGate 5.0 here.

StoneGate FW-1030 FW/VPN Appliance Offers Next Generation Firewall Capabilities


The StoneGate FW-1030 FW/VPN appliance is a next generation firewall solution designed for the needs of small enterprises and remote offices with tens to hundreds of users.

“We are proud to introduce the new FW-1030, which has been especially designed to meet the needs of small enterprises and remote offices. Remote locations often suffer from being in-between the different demands of small and large offices. In practice, this means that appliances and services designed for small offices are not sufficient for their demands, but on the other hand they do not want to pay for full-scale solutions designed for large offices. Our new StoneGate FW-1030 fills this gap, offering a complete solution with a set of new generation features, solid-state disk technology and low power consumption”, said Kim Fagernäs, Vice President of Sales at Stonesoft.

Read more about StoneGate FW-1030 here.

Training News


Stonesoft introduces a new Troubleshooting course in order to help the network administrators locate more efficiently the sources for problems in their network. The course provides students with the tools that can be used to find out the exact cause of the problem through a systematic troubleshooting process.  The course consists on presentation of StoneGate and third-party troubleshooting tools and methods as well as hands-on lab exercises. 

Ask for more information on the troubleshooting course from your local Stonesoft training site or by emailing to training@stonesoft.com.

Partner News

GTI, New Stonesoft Partner in Portugal


GTI has signed an agreement with Stonesoft through which the distributor will commercialize Stonesoft’s complete portfolio in the Portuguese market.

Under this agreement, and by the scope of the manufacturer's portfolio, GTI complete security division and strengthens various segments with high demand and projections in the market such as Perimeter Security, communication channels, detection and intrusion prevention and Filtering Mail, among others.

Marcelo Carvalheira, GTI’s country manager in Portugal says that "we are convinced that this alliance with Stonesoft is excellent news for all our distributors. The manufacturer's security solutions offer a multitude of synergies with the rest of our catalogue for its quality and competitiveness, essential values to meet the needs of our customers”.

Nextel Engineering and Telecor, New Stonesoft Premium Partners in Spain


Nextel Engineering and Telecor have reached the highest level of its partner program, becoming Premium Authorized Resellers.

Nextel Engineering has been at the Stonesoft forefront of providing basic and premium support. Currently they have three technicians certified in StoneGate Firewall / VPN, IPS and SSL and a platform for trial experience.

"For Nextel Engineering, Stonesoft has been a pleasant surprise. This is a highly innovative solutions manufacturer with a clear orientation to the customer and the channel," says Juan Jose Amor, Nextel Engineering general manager”.

For more information about the partnership with Nextel Engineering in Spanish click here.

Telecor is one of the most outstanding Stonesoft partners regarding basic and premium support, with six certified engineers in StoneGate Firewall / VPN, IPS and SSL; a platform for trial experiences and high technical qualification. Telecor has deployed large projects related with Stonesoft having clients from all market sectors.
 
"Since we arrived in Spain we have worked with Telecor, so their access to the highest level in our partner program consolidates this long and successful relationship and opens up new favourable horizons for both," said Maria Campos, Stonesoft Iberica Country Manager.
For more information about the partnership with Telecor in Spanish click here.

Tip of the Month


You have probably noticed that you can bookmark almost any view in StoneGate Management Client. But did you know that you can place the bookmarks also in the toolbar? This way the most important views are always one click away.

How to do that:
•    Enable “Bookmark Toolbar” in View - Panels menu
•    Create bookmarks and place them under “Toolbar” folder

Note that you can put bookmarks folders to the toolbar too.

Check for more tips in StoneBlog