Abhijit Jorvekar, ED & Sr. VP – Sales, Quick Heal Technologies Limited discusses how the vendor has strong value propositions for the soho and SMB segments

Discuss outlook for market in terms of endpoint security software solutions in the retail channel?

Increased Internet penetration and improvement in telecom technologies has given a boost to the adoption of various forms endpoint devices such as; laptops, smartphones and tablets. While technology has brought the world closer, it has also given way to numerous security related risks to the devices used by the consumers and in enterprises. The growing cyber-attacks on enterprises and individual consumers has created an urgency and need to secure the endpoint perimeter. This has enabled the growth of consumer endpoint security solutions across the globe.

The growing sophistication in attacks is making individuals to adopt robust consumer endpoint security solutions. The market for consumer endpoint security solutions is expected to flourish further due to increasing average endpoint device per person. The Asia-Pacific region is set to record the highest adoption / growth rate in the coming years.  According to a ResearchFox Consulting report ‘Consumer End-Point Security Market – Outlook (2015-2019) for APAC, the market for Consumer Endpoint Security was USD 5754.90 million in 2014 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of close to 7.20% till 2019.

We have been promoting our EPS solutions to support the requirements of enterprises as well as consumers in this region and we have received a favorable response from the market. We have recently launched version 7 of our End Point Security solution in four product variants – SME, Business, Total and Enterprise Suite and it offers a wide range of features under a single platform. EPS 7.0 encompass more competitive features with improved scalability and responsiveness.

With our offerings for the SMEs we are targeting at around 30% additional revenues from the SME and SOHO segments in this region.

Discuss if the company has been successful to make inroads as anticipated since entering the market?

We entered in the middle-east region two years back by establishing our subsidiary Quick Heal Technologies (MENA) FZE. Prior to that we were selling in this region through a National distributor. We have received favourable response and acceptance in this region during the past few years and have been able to partner with few of the large distributors here who have been able to help us establish our channel market over the last two years.

There is a regular flow of products in the market. Even though we are a recent entrant in the market, we have captured some established accounts in the region and these are further generating additional enquiries through referrals.

Our partnerships have worked well here and we have adopted various region specific approaches. For instance, we have introduced a tailor-made approach for this region which is the Arabic language Graphical User Interface to communicate better with our customers here. We have also deployed in-country operations and support centres to provide seamless customer support. Teamed up with holistic and comprehensive product line, we are definite that Quick Heal is bound to grow by leaps and bounds in the Middle-East region in near future and we are hopeful of expanding our presence and extending our solutions to more locations in this region.

Which segments have seen the most traction in this region?

In Middle-east region, we have seen maximum traction from the healthcare and education sectors. The other promising industries in this region are banking, insurance and Government agencies. The awareness around the need for securing data and devices is increasing and the Government also has been taking certain initiatives for the same. Internet adoption and use of various smart devices is increasing and so is the need for security solutions in enterprises and by consumers.

How has the company’s go to market strategy changed in the region? Who are your current distributors?

We have a clear demarcation of the industry verticals and have dedicated resources focusing on these verticals. We have taken a conscious decision to maintain stock visibility at every point of sale and have also deployed a back office lead generation team.

Elaborate if mobile security is a growth segment for the company- what are your solutions on offer?

Our Mobile segment has displayed a growth of 40% in Q1 FY 2016-17. We have been observing substantial awareness around the need for the security solutions on mobile phones and hand held devices. Quick Heal has a comprehensive portfolio of solutions to secure both Windows and Android platforms and we are well equipped to support the requirements and address new age challenges with our comprehensive product offerings. We are hopeful of maintaining strong growth momentum and sustaining our leadership position across segments and markets.

Quick Heal offers a focused offering – ‘Fonetastic’ for the android platform which not only helps the device operate faster, but also protects personal information such as; photos, videos, messages and locks apps like Facebook, Twitter, Gmail. It optimizes speed, battery, and storage of the device and secures it by offering features such as; Fingerprint Unlock, Anti-theft, Vulnerability Scan and Security Advisor to enhance the security of the device etc.

Is there sufficient growth and awareness in this segment?

The fact is that mobile phones and tablet PCs are equally vulnerable to attacks and users are now taking cognizance of this fact. More and more users are now opting for a security solution for their mobile phones and gadgets but still the awareness levels around the security threats on mobile phones is low. As the awareness increases, the demand for security solutions will also increase further increasing the growth of the segment.

Have you introduced your latest version products for the year already – elaborate on some new features added?

We have released version 17 of Quick Heal Total Security, Quick Heal Internet Security and Quick Heal Antivirus Pro. The new version is aimed at better equipping our customers to save their data, transactions and computers from spyware, adware, keyloggers, riskware, and other malicious programs.

To cater to our enterprise customers, we introduced ‘Seqrite’, the enterprise solutions brand by Quick Heal Technologies Limited in 2015. Seqrite solutions which are an extension of Quick Heal’s industry leading offerings; are a combination of intelligence, analysis of applications and state-of-the-art technology, and are designed to provide better protection for our customers’ data, devices and networks. Focused exclusively on the Enterprise market, Seqrite offers Endpoint Security, Server Security and Gateway Security solutions.

Version 17 includes enhanced Parental Control feature that will enable parents to keep better track of what the kids are accessing online. The new version of all products also include a very important capability of combatting ransomware which has been posing serious threat to data, information and hardware during the past few months. Anti-Ransomware feature is a more comprehensive solution specifically developed to detect / block Ransomwares. This feature has been made available for both Consumer and Enterprise (Seqrite) products. It has been able to successfully detect and block hundreds of ransomwares across consumer and enterprise systems every month. Both, Anti-Ransomware and Backup features are being plugged in to the consumer and enterprise products through updates. Anti-Ransomware and the backup and restore feature is currently available in Seqrite Endpoint Security (EPS) 6.x series.

At Quick Heal we are constantly innovating to equip our consumers and enterprises to monitor and prevent such threats and safeguard their critical data.

What are your plans further to consolidate in the region?

We plan to and are working towards setting up a dealer channel partner network. We are conducting product trainings so that they get inducted well and can then drive sales independently. We also plan to introduce new partner programs for Enterprise products.

We are working towards capturing 10% market share in the current fiscal for SME segment and are also trying to increase our market presence in retail market through our new version of EPS products.