Q1 Labs Targets Channel with Hybrid Appliance

Q1 Labs Inc. will tap its channel partners to market a newly launched security and network analysis appliance geared toward midsized enterprises.

The company on Monday debuted a new version of its QRadar-2101 appliance. According to Q1 Labs, the appliance provides midmarket firms with security information/event management, network behavior analysis and vulnerability assessment capabilities.

Tom Turner, Q1 Labs’ vice president of marketing, said channel partners will play a key role in bringing the appliance to market. The company works with more than 70 partners in the United States and EMEA (the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.)

Turner said customers of all sizes tend to work with a consultant when it comes to security purchases.

“They have a set of trusted advisors and, more often than not, the channel partner fulfills that role or is one of [an organization’s] trusted advisors,” Turner said. In addition to introducing the appliance to customers, channel partners can customize the technology for use within specific vertical markets, he added.

Vendors in recent months have unleashed an array of security-related appliances and many are targeting resellers as a gateway to small and midsize businesses.

Turner acknowledges the variety of appliances available, but said the QRadar-2101 differs in that it combines security and network functions. The tasks of looking into an organization’s security infrastructure and network infrastructure are generally accomplished with separate tools, he said.

Jason Knight, managing partner of The Broadleaf Group LLC, agreed that the combination of security and networking functions sets the QRadar-2101 appliance apart. He said the alternative to Q1 Labs’ all-in-one approach involves multiple systems and servers, which result in a more complex infrastructure.

Knight said day-to-day maintenance of the appliance is low, which is a plus for the type of clients his company pursues. The Broadleaf Group, a Houston-based IT services firm, focuses on midsize enterprises.

“The midmarket companies don’t typically have a robust IT group,” he said. “They … just don’t have a lot of time to spend administering and maintaining this type of solution.”

QRadar-2101, available immediately, starts at $37,700. Channel pricing is available.