Symantec announces new charter

Easwaradas Nair






SAN FRANCISCO: Ten months into the completion of the merger between Symantec and
Veritas, Symantec Corp has  announced its new charter at its annual event,

Symantec VISION 2006.






The strategy, borne out of the strengths of merged entities, rests on creating a
software infrastructure layer that delivers on two fronts: data security and

availability.






Several new product announcements that combine erstwhile Veritas and Symantec
product families are expected over the next two days. The products are intended

to help Symantec gain a larger footprint in the enterprise market.






John W. Thompson, chairman of the Board and CEO, Symantec said, “This year
message management and IT policy compliance are our major focus areas”.






The company announced its IT compliance solution comprising a broad set of
security and availability products and services, aimed at companies that need to

demonstrate compliance across multiple regulations, standards, and guidelines,

such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and PCI. The solution purports to consolidate all

compliance initiatives into a single system.






While Symantec would continue to release newer versions of security products, it
plans to deliver a hybrid model of software and service to address the consumer

and SMB markets.






Reacting to Microsoft's recent strides in the security area with Windows Live
OneCare and the upcoming Vista update to the Windows operating system, Thompson

said, “ We will out-innovate Microsoft. We know more about security that they

ever will.”






He added that Microsoft is raising awareness about increased threats and it is
Symantec's opportunity to address them. Though Thompson acknowledged that the

Microsoft threat was inevitable, he vowed not to concede the consumer market to

Microsoft.






Earlier this year, Symantec also announced its initiative to embed security
features in VPro, Intel's next major processor release.