Spreading A SafeNet For Partners

SafeNet has recently launched the latest version of their Sentinel HASP

token product which is available in both physical as well as software forms. The

product is primarily aimed at the software developers and hardware system

developers as well to those who wish to have a solution for fraud prevention and

compliance.

“This is the 5.0 version of the product and the major difference is that in

this version, both the physical as well as soft tokens now come with the ability

to support virtualized environments as opposed to it being limited to the

physical token on earlier versions,” said Rana Gupta, Director-India & SAARC,

SafeNet India.

With this product, SafeNet aims to tap in both the standalone consumer

segment as well as the enterprise segments. “With the kick start capability

feature coming in, we can now offer our customers the option of trying the

product before they actually buy it. They can download and use it for a limited

period before they are prompted to make a purchase,” added Gupta.

A token of security



Talking about the functionality of the token, Gupta said, “This is

essentially a security enhancement product. From a software developer's

perspective, this token can help with preventing piracy of the software

application developed by you by stopping the copying of your software from

taking place and even if it gets copied, the copied version will not work

properly.”

From the hardware system developer's perspective, it can be used to decide

how much functionality to offer to the customer thereby enabling them to offer

customer specific product licensing depending on the functions opted for. From

the aspect of prevention of fraud and compliance, the token can be used to

authenticate and stop certain applications and systems from being used by

others.

Asked on why both the physical as well as soft form factors were made

available, Gupta said, “Many enterprise customers are finicky about letting

their employees use a USB port device and hence many of them lock their ports

for fear of data security. In such a case, the software version of the product

can be used independent of the hardware token. Of course the physical token

makes the whole issue of portability easier but the software version enables us

to also tap into those segment of people who buy online and do not want to wait

for the physical shipment of their product to arrive.”

Who will be interested



It is the ISV community that would be most interested in this product along

with application developers. “By Q3 of this fiscal, we will also be coming out

with a similar product for SaaS and cloud service providers. With the product we

have just launched, there is also the potential for channel partners to partner

as third-party managed service providers linking both the ISVs and the

end-customer or they could go and sell this product with the option of us

hosting the service from our end,” said Gupta.

As far as pricing of this product is concerned, Gupta said, “At the very

basic token level, the price starts from Rs 1,100 and can go up to as high as Rs

12,000 for more high-end tokens of the Sentinel HASP.”

Goodies for partners



SafeNet has also launched a new partner program for its channel partners who

will push the vendor's remote authentication solutions. There are three

levels-Silver, Gold and Platinum and each level is entitled to various benefits.

“We have just started this program in March and currently have around one

Silver, two Gold and one Platinum partner in the country. We wish to increase

our partner base to 20 this year,” said Gupta.

While Silver partners do not have any revenue commitment, both Gold and

Platinum partners have to guarantee a certain level of business to be eligible

for the benefits accrued to them at that level. “In terms of benefits, our

Silver partner can look to make double digit margins while the difference in

terms of percentage among all three levels is that of

10 percent with the higher level making



that much more in terms of discounts and rebates.”

On the other hand, in terms of the requirement from their side, while SafeNet

recommends that a Silver partner has a certified employee on roll, it is not

compulsory. For Gold partners however, they need to have at least two employees

certified on the company's solutions, one of which must be technically certified

while for Platinum partners, they must have at least three certified employees

of which two must be trained on technical aspects.

John Jacob



johnj@cybermedia.co.in