Dr.Web AV-Desk vs. Pseudo-SaaS Solutions
The Internet service Dr.Web AV-Desk offers service providers abundant opportunities to provide IT services to both residential and business customers. In contrast, pseudo-SaaS solutions lead to shortfalls in revenue and narrow the pool of potential customers.
| Dr.Web AV-Desk | Standard License Resale Services (Kaspersky Subscription Services and ESET NOD32 for ISP, among others) |
|---|---|
| The service provider’s image is that of a provider of security services. With market demand for SaaS strong, Dr.Web AV-Desk will boost customer loyalty and serve as a competitive advantage in attracting new customers. | The provider’s image is that of a reseller of licenses. The provider becomes just another commercial site through which an anti-virus serial number can be purchased. |
| Safeguards a service provider’s sales | Fails to safeguard a service provider’s sales |
| Multiple users cannot use a single customer ID. | More than one user can use a single serial number (if posted on the Internet); the provider loses sales and unwittingly becomes an accomplice to piracy. |
| Proof of licensing. By generating his own license certificate in the Subscription Management Center, a customer can prove that the software in use is licensed—this is particularly important for business customers. | Those covered by licenses are not provided with licensing certificates, making it impossible for them to prove that the software they are using is licensed. |
| Dr.Web AV-Desk generates strong customer attachment to the service provider which means future income is safeguarded; when renewing a subscription with a service provider, a customer is offered incentives based on length of service usage. | The customer is not tied to any provider, and consequently the provider’s sales are not safeguarded—the customer can renew his license with any Kaspersky Lab partner. |
| A multitude of uses | Limited in use |
Dr.Web AV-Desk is a multi-version business model. A service provider can:
|
The resale of two types of standard licenses takes place only through Internet service providers. |
| Do your own billing internally—the service can be integrated into a company of any size, even one that does not handle its own billing. | The solution is limited in use, because it lacks a built-in billing mechanism and cannot be used by companies that do not handle their own billing. |
| Opportunities to increase revenue | |
| Dr.Web AV-Desk’s capabilities enable providers to increase their earnings by offering their customers additional services related to anti-virus protection. | There is no opportunity to offer additional services. The solution provides absolutely no means of increasing earnings or building one’s business. |
| Dr.Web basic tariff packages address the needs of various customer segments within a service provider’s customer base. | Standard licenses are offered for two products only—an anti-virus and an Internet security product. |
| There is protection for Windows server platforms. | No protection exists for Windows server platforms. |
| Unlimited opportunities for advancement | Limited opportunities for advancement |
| You can create an unlimited number of customized tariff packages, i.e. promotional packages that stimulate sales. And «Doctor Web» provides ready-made marketing tools—HTML pages, news headlines, and banners—to help you implement them. | You cannot create your own packages, your own commercial products. A provider can only sell what it has received from a vendor. Implementing one’s own promotional policies is impossible. |
| Branding opportunities | |
| The possibility exists to co-brand the service within the corporate identity of the provider in: Subscription Control Center messages to subscribers, business customer accounts, marketing materials, and design layouts. | No opportunity exists for co-branding. |
| A service provider can issue its own branded prepaid cards. | No such opportunity exists. |
| Flexible management of an anti-virus network’s security policy. | There is no way to manage an anti-virus network. |
| The anti-virus server is situated at the service provider’s location, which lets the service provider itself control anti-virus network protection. | There is no anti-virus server, and no way to build and manage an anti-virus network. |
| The Dr.Web AV-Desk anti-virus server runs on open source software. | There is no anti-virus server. |
| The service is managed using a Web administration interface, a server management tool that does not require installation. If a customer has a system administrator on staff, access to the Web administration interface can be granted. | Management of a license distribution service takes place from a console installed on a provider’s server. |
| An anti-virus network can be managed safely from anywhere on the Internet, not only from an internal network. | There is no way to manage an anti-virus network; with no anti-virus network, all PCs operate in isolation. |
| The server portion of Dr.Web AV-Desk provides for the collection and recording of information concerning the work being carried out by anti-virus agents. | A provider does not receive statistical information about the work an anti-virus is undertaking on its customers’ PCs. |
| A provider knows what is going on in an anti-virus network; the Dr.Web AV-Desk anti-virus server stores the following: custom keys, configurations of the computers being protected, statistics on scans carried out by every component of the anti-virus on every computer in the anti-virus network, as well as other pertinent information. | Because a provider has no anti-virus network, it’s impossible to know the state of each customer’s PC. Conventional anti-virus products do not understand parasitic network processes; it’s impossible to know whether an anti-virus has been installed on a user computer, whether its settings are correct, and whether it is being updated regularly. |
| A service provider has the tools needed to manage a security policy. The provider can prevent users from disabling updates, establish schedules for scans and updates, shut down workstations carrying network virus infections, preset components of the client portion of the Dr.Web software in whatever configuration is necessary (before its installation on the customer’s PC and even afterwards, if needed), and set/cancel tasks at a desired workstation. | A provider cannot control and change settings on customer PCs or monitor user updating activity. |
| A service provider can group customers, develop individual security policies for each group and then, with a single command, assign or cancel tasks that target all of the workstations in a group. | There is no possibility of grouping. |
| Updates are downloaded from a service provider’s servers; residential customers are charged for the updates according to internal network traffic rates. | Updates are carried out by the vendor’s server. Customers have to pay to download updates from the (anti-virus) developer’s server, and they must pay at the rate charged for external traffic. |
| The updating of anti-virus agents, including virus databases, lies entirely with the anti-virus server, which leads to significant reductions in Internet traffic. | Updates are done individually for each PC which increases traffic. |
| Several servers can be linked together for the exchange of updates and statistics. This lets the provider distribute the network load to different network segments and simultaneously collect statistics from all network segments. | There is no way to collect statistics; there is no anti-virus network. |
| The client portion of the Dr.Web software can be placed in “mobile mode,” which means that if the provider has to undertake network maintenance, users lose their connection with the Dr.Web anti-virus server but still receive virus database updates. | The customer is always rigidly bound to getting updates from the vendor’s server. |
| If a customer has questions about the sequence of or justification for actions taken, a service provider can rely on the administrator activity audit log to provide a thorough accounting of all actions carried out with that customer’s protected PC. | No such possibility exists. |
| Virus incidents can be monitored and fully controlled. | There is no way to monitor or manage virus incidents. |
| A service provider can see whatever virus-related situations exist on every network PC that is under the protection of the anti-virus software. In the event of an outbreak, the service provider has tools at its disposal to deal with the outbreak. | A provider cannot see what virus-related situations are being experienced by customer PCs and can do nothing to influence them in the event of an outbreak. |
| A service provider can keep track of updates made to the virus databases of each protected PC; the provider can also forcibly update virus databases if updates have not been carried out for quite some time. Thus, the current state of the virus databases across the entire network can be maintained. | The provider has no idea when customer computers were last updated and has no way of stopping epidemics from spreading. |
| Dr.Web AV-Desk contains a variety of means to instantly alert anti-virus network administrators about virus epidemics. | There is no mechanism for warning customers about virus epidemics. |
| A service provider can instantly notify customers about various events, including epidemics. E-mail messages can be sent to all customers or groups of customers. If customers are not online at the time the message is sent, the message will be delivered to their PCs as soon as they establish an Internet connection. | Providers have no way of giving their customers advanced warning about epidemics and other events, other than via a web site announcement or an e-mail message. |
| A service provider receives comprehensive statistical data about all virus-related situations in the network. | No statistical data is given to providers about network virus incidents. |
| Technical support | |
| Your customers can receive technical assistance through the «Doctor Web» support tracker. | |
| Other | |
| Protects both customer PCs and provider PCs. | Protects only customer PCs. |
