Anti Virus - Protecting Your Business

Written on the 20th of June 2006 by Scott Jones

Do you Need AntiVirus Software?

There are approximately 500 new viruses and virus variants EVERY MONTH.
 
Firstly, lets confirm that without a doubt you DO need antivirus software for any computers that have Internet connectivity.  
The lost productivity for most businesses from one virus is far higher than the cost of the software.  
 

How to Protect Your Business.

Firstly, let it be said that if a security product appears to have failed, quite often it is the way the product has been used that is faulty, not the product itself.  
Here are some common reasons why Antivirus software fails:

• Your IT technicians have not configured your antivirus properly in the first instance, for example laptops are not configured to update unless they are directly
  connected to the work network, so are left not fully protected for days or weeks at a time.
• You do not have a scheduled maintenance service that checks that the software is updating itself properly (remember, there are 500 new viruses every month,
  so the updates need to be happening constantly.)
• The software has expired and you do not have an active licence. (Again, someone should be checking this for you regularly).

Software can stop working for various reasons, but if no one is checking that for you, how would you know?

So although the installation and use and checking of the software is important, it is definitely true that some products are better than others, and some are more suited to
businesses than others.

For example, it is important that businesses get an antivirus software which is centrally controlled and monitored.

This allows the software to download updates from the web once, and then distribute them to all networked devices automatically.  If you get a consumer grade product, every device has to download its own update. If you have 50 devices downloading 5 x 3MB updates per week, thats over 3GB of downloads a month, wasting your bandwidth and slowing your internet access.

Centrally monitored software also allows your IT provider to extract useful reports about the performance of the antivirus software, and (in the case of Trend Micro), its performance at blocking spam, Spyware and websites that your company classes as undesirable as well.

Software we recommend

IT Leaders has spent a great deal of time testing and monitoring BUSINESS AntiVirus software in real-world conditions. We are impartial to the recommendation, and simply want the best and most cost-effective protection for our clients.  For very specific reasons IT Leaders recommends that Trend Micro software represents the best choice for the majority of business owners.  Other products can perform well, and few products are so bad that we would recommend immediately dumping them, but if it was MY money, I would spend it on a Trend Micro product like "Worry Free Suite" or "Neat Suite".

Here's why:

1. Fastest Updates.
Trend Micro update their virus definitions as often as every 3 hours. It is these updates that protect you from the latest virus threats, and stop your business from being one of the ones crippled by the latest virus that you will hear reported on the morning news. It also means that Trend Micro is committed to releasing virus fixes as fast as humanly possible; good news for your business.
 
2. Smallest Footprint.
ALL AntiVirus software will impact the speed of your computers. This is because they actively scan all files in use by your computers. This activity takes processing power and disk time, and thus slows your programs down. Trend Micro software is well written with a smaller memory load,  so that it's impact on machine performance is less than many of the major competing AV brands. This speed difference relates to REAL MONEY in your business, as your staff spend less time waiting for their computers to complete requests.
 
3. Better integration and more answers.
As your business grows, you may require more sophisticated software products to support you.  Trend Micro has specialist products to add in to your existing protection as you grow.
You can block and monitor spyware, viruses and spam all in one SME solution ("Trend's Worry Free suite"). Then moving up a level, you can add in gateway protection and web filtering in their "NeatSuite" product.  And finally you can add in customisable web blocking and reporting on staff's use of websites with their IWSS add-on.
 
4. Lowest Cost Renewals.
Bear in mind that when you purchase AV software, it is a YEARLY expense, and you have to renew the licences, in order to have ongoing protection from the latest viruses each year.  In most cases, Trend Micro AV software costs less than $30 per computer to renew the licences - often LESS THAN A THIRD of the competing brands renewal prices.

5. Consistent peer reviews
Trend Micro products consistently win awards every year, and out perform the competition in their ability to detect and prevent infections. 2009 was no different with several independent reviews stating the product is superior.

Want more information?

Please talk to your IT Leaders Engineer or Relationship Manager, call 07 5597 5355.

Scott Jones
Founder and General Manager

IT Leaders Group