Davao City, with its ever-expanding commercial and industrial communities, is already getting the attention of many local and foreign investors, strengthened by the presence of several information and communications technology companies as well as firms business process outsourcing (BPO) firms.
Due to its potential as a location for ICT-based companies, the Business Process Association of the Philippines (BPAP) and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) have put Davao City in its prestigious list of “Next Wave Cities” for 2010. Next Wave cities refer to the country’s best BPO locations, according to BPAP and CICT.
In fact, Davao City’s universities, colleges and other learning institutions have been working closely with the city’s administration and the ICT companies to develop a pool of talents that will fill the requirements of ICT firms’ manpower needs.
Seeing this growth happening in Davao City, leading secure content and threat management software developer Kaspersky Lab is taking steps to be part of Davao’s economic expansion, particularly in its ICT sector. The company recognizes Davao’s contributions to the continued growth of the country’s ICT industry.
Part of its commitment is to reach out to Davao City’s business and consumer segment. Kaspersky Lab is opening channels with several of the city’s ICT resellers. The goal is to widen its foundation in areas with strong economic potential. The company expects about 15-20% channel growth in this part of the country.
In addition, Kaspersky Lab is also targeting a wider market segment, which basically includes all of the city’s commercial and industrial sectors. These include manufacturing, retail, financial, transportation, and communications businesses.
Kaspersky Lab South East Asia Channel Sales Director Jimmy Fong says business growth is expanding to other metro cities in the Philippines, with Davao being among the first to be recognized in Mindanao. He said the growth prospects in these new locations will strengthen Kaspersky’s leadership in the software security space.
Fong emphasized that economic growth also entails responsibilities in protecting one’s networks against intrusions. There have been incidences about businesses falling victims to cybercriminals who have stolen confidential business data. In some cases, victims do not know that they have been infected with malicious software that have been stealing information for the purpose of corporate espionage.
He added that as companies grow, so do the probability of getting noticed by cybercriminals “Businesses have to be forward-looking in protecting their investments against cybercriminals. Companies in Davao are not exempted, especially when there is so much potential to be had,” says Fong.
One of Kaspersky Lab’s major solutions targeted towards the enterprise market which it now offers in the Philippines, including Davao, is the updated version of Kaspersky Open Space Security (KOSS). KOSS is a full security suite that covers multiple IT platforms. It provides protection against all types of Internet threats and can be installed in Microsoft Windows and Linux-based servers, as well as Macs.
KOSS also provides antivirus and mail-gateway protection for Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, and Lotus Domino.
A unique feature of KOSS is its support for the most popular smartphone operating systems, such as Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Symbian 60. This can effectively stop cybercrime from the smartphone endpoint, especially when businesses, through their employees, use mobile devices to input sensitive data.
Fong says the new KOSS provides businesses with a new level of protection from malware and other threats.
“By providing protection to complex and multi-platform networks of just about any size, KOSS is ideal for the way we do business today, where we transact using critical data through laptops and even our smartphones. Everyone now enjoys a mobile working lifestyle where we just work from anywhere and anytime. With KOSS, businesses can enjoy convenient and hassle-free computing without compromising important data from all types of malware attacks,” Fong says.
“We believe there are a lot more opportunities now, especially with all types of companies now becoming more proactive in securing their businesses from high-tech attacks,” Fong said.
Fong said many cybercriminals are veering away from attacking individual PCs due to the lower profit margins they get from single users. Instead, they are putting more effort in infiltrating enterprises as this sector offers more financial gains.
“Most companies are not aware of these types of weapons used by organized cybercriminals simply because they’re new. Nevertheless, business owners will always want to be secured and many of them are approaching us, specifically for this end,” Fong said.
Alex Ng, Kaspersky Lab South East Asia product manager, said the new KOSS is developed for all types of industries from financial, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, utility, retail, transportation and even government.
The KOSS can be used for businesses of any size, be it less than 100 to more than 100 nodes. A node can be a PC, a server, or even a smartphone.
Kaspersky Lab’s flagship products Kaspersky Internet Security (KIS) and Kaspersky Anti Virus (KAV) are already selling well in Davao, especially after the company expanded its partner bases in this province in 2008. It currently has at least 20 dealers in Davao. KIS and KAV are aimed towards individual users and comes in 1-user, 3-user and 5-user boxes.
Fong said they have been receiving numerous queries for their services in the Philippines in the past months owing to the strong brand of the consumer-level Kaspersky Lab security products. He said they have gradually built their reputation in the country to gain market acceptance in the business sector.
“We will continue to support these cities as we see Davao to have major outputs in terms of outsourced services in the coming years. Kaspersky Lab will also dedicate itself to providing products to as many enterprises as possible in Davao to accommodate the network security requirements of local companies here,” Fong says.
