CIO —
Symantec, the world’s leading producer of computer security software, is attempting to reach $10 billion in annual sales by 2010—double its current yearly sales—with 10 percent of its total revenue derived from services, Reuters reports via Boston.com.
The news comes from Symantec Chief Executive John Thompson, who spoke at the ETRE technology conference in Spain on Sunday, according to Reuters.
Thompson also said the antivirus vendor is looking into the possibility of additional acquisitions of midsize firms following its $10.3 billion buy of Veritas, a producer of storage software, in 2005, Reuters reports.
“Buying technologies is one thing, but buying real businesses is another, because you are forced to pay attention to them,” Thompson said, according to Reuters. “If they are $75 to $100 million in sales, that’s real money, that gives us leverage.”
Symantec expressed concern in recent days over security features built into Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Vista operating system. Thompson said he was indeed concerned with Microsoft’s entry into the computer security space and its recently announced security partnership with Cisco Systems. Microsoft released its first security offering in June, dubbed Windows Live OneCare.
"We want for Microsoft not to control how customers get their security," Thompson said, according to Reuters.
McAfee, another antivirus provider, also accused Microsoft of blocking access to the core, or kernel, of Vista to make it more difficult for competitors to tailor their offerings to the upcoming system. Last week, Russian computer security firm Kaspersky Lab defended Microsoft against the accusations by saying it saw no attempt on the software giant’s part to block Vista’s kernel.
Related Links:
- Symantec Up in Arms Over Microsoft Vista Security Features
- Cisco, Microsoft Demo Network Security Cooperation
- Microsoft’s Windows Live OneCare Now Shipping
- Rivals: Microsoft Locking Others Out of Vista Security
- Kaspersky: Microsoft Not Locking Rivals Out of Vista Security
Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage.
