Global security software vendor Trend Micro has appointed Cloud on Demand, a South African cloud vendor and hybrid cloud enablement partner, as its first XSP (cloud) partner in the southern African region.

Through its technology assets and its software-defined data centre (SDDC), Cloud on Demand provides customers and resellers a platform, complimentary applications and solutions to assist them in embracing the cloud.

To this end, the company will be coupling the Trend Micro security offerings into its product portfolio with the intention of providing security to customers that extend from anti-virus to the hypervisor as well as into the cloud.

“With the Deep Security cloud and virtualisation security offerings from Trend Micro, a business no longer needs to approach the cloud with caution,” says Gregory Anderson, country manager of Trend Micro South Africa.

“The appointment of Cloud on Demand as an XSP (cloud) partner, places us in the enviable position to offer local customers access to the superior security solutions for their cloud environments, limiting their risk and ensuring their ongoing security, while at the same time addressing their compliance requirements.”

While in some instances some South African customers have to date have been reticent to look at the cloud as a qualified business alternative to their IT assets and infrastructure, the Cloud on Demand model provides a low risk, secure and cost effective mechanism by which to put a business in the cloud.

According to Jonathan Kropf, CEO of Cloud on Demand, the partnership with Trend Micro will allow the company to be able to offer customers and resellers the Trend products and security solutions as part of its virtual data centre solution.

The security products will also form part of its Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering, that allows resellers to rent virtual infrastructure from the company and then sell this to customers.

“As the first company to launch a virtual data centre in South Africa and as a channel only cloud provider, we are delighted to be able to add the Trend Micro products to our portfolio and in turn the portfolio of our customers,” says Kropf.

“Our position as an XSP partner affords our customers the benefit of not having to purchase long-term licensing for the Trend Micro products, instead through our partner agreement with the vendor, they now need only purchase what they use. This allows their licensing costs to remain fairly elastic depending entirely on usage.”