More than 1,200 Symantec Partners Join the SMB Specialisation Program across Asia Pacific and Japan

SYDNEY, Australia – 18 June 2012 – Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced that more than 1,200 Symantec partners have joined the SMB Specialisation Program across the Asia Pacific and Japan region, expanding Symantec’s commitment and support for small to medium sized business (SMB)* customers in this fast growing region. Together with Symantec, these partners will focus on reaching a greater number of SMBs, making it easier for SMBs to protect their information and move their business forward with confidence.

SMBs make up a significant part of an economy. However, SMBs are faced with a number of challenges that can prevent them from reaching their full potential. The abundance of technology and barrage of information can create tremendous opportunity while at the same time bring immense perplexity and greater risk. According to Symantec’s recent Internet Security Threat Report, 18 percent of all targeted attacks are directed at businesses with 250 or fewer employees. What’s worse, because of the importance of connectivity and collaboration through web, email, social networks and online applications, their behavior also makes them four times more at risk of malware attacks than their larger counterparts.

However despite increased risk, for some SMBs, buying, deploying and managing security, storage and backup systems is just too complicated for them to devote the time, money and energy. So they cross their fingers and wing it.

Enter Symantec, which began a variety of SMB-specific initiatives last year, and has a mission is to redefine how SMBs safeguard their information by providing 360 degrees of protection – from web browsing and online transactions, to email and collaboration, to backup and recovery – in a way that’s easy to purchase, deploy, manage and support.

Led by Group President Rowan Trollope, the Symantec SMB organisation brings together SMB experts who not only understand the specific needs of SMBs and the partners who sell to them, but are focused on serving, enabling, helping and protecting this important business community around the world. Working closely together, the team is channeling their passion and knowledge into the design and delivery of Symantec’s SMB products; marketing, communication and support; as well as delivering partners with hands-on enablement and financial incentives.

Complete Information Protection Built Specifically for SMBs
Today’s SMBs are looking for speed, ease of deployment and an amazing user experience, which is why Symantec is radically simplifying its SMB product portfolio to make it easier than ever to buy, set-up, manage and receive support for Symantec products. SMB customers using Symantec’s SMB solutions such as Backup Exec Small Business Edition and Symantec Endpoint Protection Small Business Edition (on premise and cloud) can be up and running within 20 minutes or less, making information protection fast and easy so customers can focus on innovation and growing their business. In addition, Symantec’s SMB team is developing new solutions that will address emerging business needs, integrate technologies, deliver a more dynamic user experience, and simplify the overall purchasing and subscription process. These solutions are slated to be rolled out through the second half of 2012.

Supporting Quotes
“In today’s connected world, small- and medium- sized businesses are especially vulnerable and need to consider how to best protect their technology and information,” said Rowan Trollope, group president of SMB and .cloud, Symantec. “Some SMBs are protected, but many aren’t. Complacency is one reason small businesses often fail to protect themselves, complexity is another. Whatever the reason, Symantec’s SMB team is working around the clock to protect the information that fuels the livelihood of this important community around the world.”

“Our SMB partners are critical in helping Symantec expand our reach to today’s information-savvy SMBs, providing them with the solutions they need to protect their information,” said Bernard Kwok, senior vice president Asia Pacific and Japan, Symantec. “We are fully committed to enabling and supporting our ecosystem of partners, and with more than 1,200 SMB Specialised partners in this region, we are confident that we can help SMBs address their security, data protection and information management needs.”

Resources

• Symantec      Small & Medium Business Information Center
• Symantec      Partner Program
• Symantec      SMB Solutions
• Symantec      2012 SMB Disaster Preparedness Survey Results
• Symantec      SMB Disaster Preparedness Executive Blog

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• Follow      Symantec on Twitter
• Join      Symantec on Facebook
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• View      Symantec’s SlideShare Channel
• Visit      Symantec Connect Business Community

*SMBs are generally defined as businesses with less than 250 employees.

About Symantec
Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organisations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is available at www.symantec.com or by connecting with Symantec at: go.symantec.com/socialmedia