Fortinet has announced the launch of its FortiCare Plus Service across India and SAARC. Targeted at businesses with limited in-house IT skill sets, this service is managed remotely via a phone or Net connection by the vendor’s Security Operations Center (SOC). It enables the remote installation and commissioning of FortiGate UTM appliances, in addition to providing ongoing security management and monitoring services. The service is available for purchase by end customers from authorized resellers and distributors for a 365-day subscription period.
Through this, the vendor hopes to:
- Allow small and medium business customers to benefit from deploying a UTM device, until now only available to those with in-house IT skills sets;
- Expand its channel to include resellers or distribution partners which are looking to expand their service offering to sell a broader range of advanced professional security services including enterprise migration, IPv6 migration and networking audit;
- Accelerate adoption of FortiGate appliances among untapped market geographies and customer segments.
The features and deliverables of this service include planning, installation, logging, monitoring and analysis, management and reporting. It includes remote access to up to ten customizable dashboards, including Resource Monitor (CPU, HDD, memory and other alert profiles), Network Monitor (Interface bandwidth, SSL and IPSec Bandwidth, session count), Event Monitor, Traffic Report, Web Filtering Report, Virus Report, IPS Report, Anti Spam Report, Trap Console and Report Browser. It also includes a monthly reporting package to be delivered to the end user.
Fortinet recently rolled out a roadshow across major metros including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai to evangelize resellers and distributors on its FortiCare Plus Service, including its business opportunities and engagement process. Over 500 attended this road show and expressed interest in the program. The vendor will shortlist and sign up about 200 partners from the security and networking domains, and provide them with qualified multi-level training prior to their certification as Fortinet Certified Network Security Associates (FCNSA) or Fortinet Certified Network Security Professionals (FCNSP).
“The FortiCare Plus Service opens up great business opportunities for non-security focused resellers so that they too can profit from the accelerated adoption of UTM appliances across all market segments. On the customer front, we expect that the convenience and assurance offered by FortiCare Plus Service will help more SMBs in India leverage our advanced technologies to protect and control their IT infrastructure,” said Vishak Raman, Fortinet’s Senior Regional Director, India & SAARC.
