For some reason, Symantec's corporate yellow color always reminds me of a blanket. But unlike some companies that seem to plot global domination at every turn, Symantec seems happy with its three cornered blanket. Executives expect to do more in the areas of security, backup, and storage management rather than take on new markets. Growth by improving on its strengths, rather than by chasing new markets.

Symantec bought Altiris, according to executives, because you can't have a secure server or client until you manage it properly, and you can't properly manage a non-secure server or client. It actually makes sense, and the Altiris technologies can help Symantec's reach into their three-pronged market of security, backup, and storage management.

The official big news for the conference is the release of Altiris 7 for clients and servers. The big news inside Altiris 7 is workflow, as presenters told us time and again. Demonstrated during both keynote presentations, workflow works as an enhanced script language to perform most steps a tech now has to perform manually. Add in the graphical workflow design sequence, with yes/no branches and triggers for modules from various programs, and a few hours of designing workflow sequences can save scores of hours of hands-on technician time.

One example that ties security and management together closely is the increasing focus of Data Leak Prevention (DLP) in Symantec's security pitch. Several times executives talked about the ability of a management front end with a workflow back end saving critical files from being stolen. When the system notices a file tagged as secure being copied to something like a USB drive, the alert kicks off a workflow sequence that identifies the user, the hardware involved, and then locks down the USB ports and suspends that user account. In the movies, copy the wrong file, and alarms ring and security guards come running. With Symantec's Endpoint Security and DLP, workflow triggers shut down the leak and finger the user. Not as much visual excitement, perhaps, but certainly more effective than galloping guards.

Such processes are being embedded in software all the time. Accounting modules that accept a shipment then check off the item from a purchase order and move the order form over to accounts payable have reached down to small business software. Workflow hasn't been successfully integrated in management and security packages, but Symantec aims to change that.

Storage management, an issue as rising storage demands rub against falling hard drive prices, can now help even small companies with a few servers. How much open storage space do you have? How much do you need? Should you buy another storage system today or next month? What if software helped you organize your storage, and pointed out you're using less than half of the storage you have now? That's the idea behind Symantec's slogan, “Stop buying storage.” Figure out what you have, discover ways to back up common files once in total instead of once for every duplicated e-mail attachment copy, and reduce your storage acquisition costs. Even when storage costs less than before, it still costs. Buy it when you need it, and relax until then.

Being technical people, we're bored by what we can have and want what doesn't yet exist. That's why I enjoyed the Innovation Showcase, where Symantec trotted out two developing products from their Research and Development program, and one from their internal venture capital incubator for developing products.

The most advanced product, and the one you can play with now, is the GoEverywhere Webtop I discussed last month in "Trends coming together make a plan for small businesses". Soon you'll be able to store all your files used by various online applications into storage you control, like Box.net, rather than leaving documents scattered around Google Apps, Zoho, or other services. Drag and drop a Google Doc file to your Box.net storage, and open it with Adobe Buzzword if you want. Such features also make it easy for Symantec to monetize the technology by selling extra storage space when the freemium level isn't enough for customers.

Better endpoint security against malware, always an issue, leverages virtualization technology in VIBES. This turns one desktop into three virtual machines without the user knowing or caring. You have three modes: user, trusted, and playground. User supports normal tasks, like e-mail and word processing etc.

When you open your browser and start to buy something, the system switches over to the trusted mode, verifying a secure link. Playground is for trying new programs, or surfing to less well behaved sites. After playing and possibly getting a little messy, one button click erases that virtual machine instance and whatever spyware you may have picked up.

I suggested to a couple of Symantec executives they change the playground name to PornViewing to generate huge customer excitement. They looked shocked at first, then agreed it was a good idea. They won't change the name, of course, because playground is more corporate than PornViewing. Knowing corporate lawyers, they'll probably think playground is too suggestive, and change it to safespot or something equally silly.

Unfortunately, we can't trust anything on the Internet today. Digestion-troubling statistics from Symantec include the fact that 75% of all name brand Web sites have been breached at some point, and more threats appeared in 2008 than in all previous years combined. Yes, more malware in 2008 than the combined total of all malware since Tim Berners-Lee put his thoughts for a strange idea called the World Wide Web on paper. Yikes. Keep those security advances coming, Symantec and other researchers.

Let's say so long to the well known ManageFusion user conferences, started by Altiris years ago. These worked quite well, turning customers into fans and then into experts willing to spread the word. Altiris did major user conferences before they were really a major force in the desktop and server management market, but their conferences helped them reach top tier status in that market. Now that Altiris has been digested by Symantec after the purchase two years ago, ManageFusion will become part of Symantec's Vision conferences. Let's hope the energy and non-traditional approach that worked so well for Altiris will infect Vision and kick it up a notch (Bam!). The more happy users you have, the more new customers you get, a lesson many companies could learn from Altiris.

James Gaskin for : See Article