IronPort launches SMB e-mail gateway

Long the provider of e-mail security products to companies and ISPs, IronPort this week plans to enter the small and midsize business market with its C10 messaging security appliance.

The appliance offers protection from spam and other e-mail threats, says Pat Peterson, IronPort's vice president of technology.

The appliance, which can be purchased directly from IronPort's Web site or through resellers, includes a host of management tools designed to ease administration for SMBs that typically don't have dedicated IT staffs for e-mail security, Peterson says.

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Long the provider of e-mail security products to companies and ISPs, IronPort this week plans to enter the small and midsize business market with its C10 messaging security appliance.

The appliance offers protection from spam and other e-mail threats, says Pat Peterson, IronPort's vice president of technology.

The appliance, which can be purchased directly from IronPort's Web site or through resellers, includes a host of management tools designed to ease administration for SMBs that typically don't have dedicated IT staffs for e-mail security, Peterson says.

IronPort defines SMBs as organizations with 1,000 employees or less.

The SMB market faces unique problems regarding e-mail security, because the messaging costs per user are significantly higher than those of a large business, and SMBs rarely have staff dedicated to protecting networks, says Michael Osterman, founder of Osterman Research. "Companies have to make these boxes almost bulletproof - plug it in, it runs and protects the network," he says.

The C10 uses the same messaging security engine as IronPort's C600 appliances, which the company sells to enterprises and ISPs. And while it contains many of the same functions as the enterprise-class product, IronPort had hidden most of these so as to limit confusion, Peterson says.

There are a few tools included with the C10 designed for SMB use, he adds. These include a utility that automatically sends reports into IronPort's customer support organization that detail the appliance's status and a tool that gathers statistics on the product, sends them in an e-mail to IronPort support and automatically starts a support ticket with details on the problem, Peterson says.

IronPort says the company or a channel partner can configure the C10 remotely in less than 15 minutes. Companies can choose to run the appliance in health-check mode, in which the product doesn't take any action but keeps track of what it would have done, giving organizations a sense for how the C10 works before deploying it, Peterson says.

The $3,000 price tag for 100 users covers anti-spam functions; additional modules can be purchased for additional capabilities, including virus-outbreak filters. Each additional seat beyond the 100 included in the base price costs $29.99 for as many 249 users, then $20.63 for as many as 500 users.

Competitors in the market for e-mail security appliances designed for SMBs include Mirapoint and Barracuda.

Read more about small business networking in Network World's Small Business Networking section.