York-based software management firm
Trustmarque Solutions plans to invest its way through the
economic downturn.
Adding value to services is the only way companies can
differentiate themselves when margins are tight, says newly
appointed chief executive Scott Haddow.
"We will continue to invest in people through the downturn. We
think we will come out a lot stronger by focusing on services as
our core business," he said.
According to Haddow, businesses are increasingly turning to
services to cut costs and enable them to focus staff or their own
core business through leaner times.
"Businesses want to buy access to skills and resources that they
don't want to build in-house all the time," he said.
Security is a key to Trusmarque's services strategy. The company
today announced a new partnership with vulnerability management
supplier
RandomStorm.
The software-as-a-service (SaaS) firm joins Trusmarque's other
security partners that include McAfee, Sophos, Symantec, Trend and
Websense.
The
external threat to data security is greater than ever due to the
recession, said Haddow.
"Now more than ever, it is vital that organisations understand
what is happening on their networks and how vulnerable they are to
attacks," he said.
The
SaaS model, said Haddow, enables organisations to maintain a
high level of security without the need for major investment in
infrastructure or specialist skills.
Trustmarque plans to bundle RandomStorm's products in its
security services, particularly for the public sector.
Assessing vulnerabilities is vital to hundreds of local
authorities in England and Wales working to comply with new
government standards for secure networks.
Local authorities must meet stringent requirements before
connecting to the planned secure network with central
government.
The
Government Connect Secure Extranet (GCSx) is part of the wider
Government Secure Intranet (GSi) and provides connectivity to
nearly all central departments.
The deadline for compliance was originally the end of March
2009, but many local authorities have been granted extensions until
September.