gateProtect Acquires the Largest SonicWall Distributor in Italy

HAMBURG, Germany and LONDON, August 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

- From 1 August 2010, the Largest Sonicwall VAD in Italy, "Alias S.r.l", Will be Responsible for the Marketing of the Successful gateProtect "UTM-Appliances" in Italy as a Master Distributor

gateProtect AG, a leading manufacturer of unified threat management appliances, announces the signing of a master distribution contract with the Italian value added distributor Alias S.r.l. (http://www.alias.it). Alias is one of the largest SonicWall distributors in Italy and markets furthermore Fortinet products. As part of the cooperation, Alias S.r.l. will exclusively market the entire range of gateProtect products in the Italian market.

In order to introduce the products as quickly and efficiently as possible to the existing Alias distribution channel, gateProtect will provide Alias with two sales and technical staff for the purpose of business development.

The partnership is based on a master distribution agreement with exclusivity for the whole of Italy. The new VAD is entitled to agree sub-distributor partnerships, although the primary goal is the acquisition of new VARs. As part of the master distribution arrangement, gateProtect will transfer the entire existing Italian channel, consisting of 200 active VARs and a retail volume of over EUR1 million, to Alias.

As Dennis Monner, CEO at gateProtect, states, "Alias is one of the most important distributors for IT security solutions in Italy and enjoys a good reputation among Italian companies and resellers. As such, this partnership is particularly valuable for us in strategic terms. We will gain access to this important distributor's marketing channel and, by 'piggybacking', we will be able to successfully develop our market position in Italy."

Alias has opted for gateProtect due to its unique eGUI technology as well as the holistic VAD marketing concept, which involves the distributor providing considerable support for Sales channel development.

With gateProtect's unique eGUI(R) technology, which simplifies the operation of UTM systems considerably, Alias can also venture into new business cases and harness the expertise of new sales partners.

The innovative approach behind eGUI(R) technology has received plaudits in numerous independent tests.

About Alias s.r.l.

Founded in December 1993, the value added distributor Alias S.r.l. specialises in the fields of security, wireless, VoIP, video surveillance, storage, networking, connectivity and Internet. The company's main business is the provision of services to companies with innovative solutions. Using technology, the aim is to transform information into knowledge and, through this, to provide these companies with the ability to realise business success. In order to market the solutions, Alias uses a distribution network consisting of 1500 VARs and Internet service providers across Italy. The distribution network is administered from the control centre in Udine, as well as branch offices in Milan and Rome, by qualified area managers as well as via the company's homepage (http://www.alias.it), which is heavily orientated to providing technological support to the marketing channel.

About gateProtect Aktiengesellschaft Germany

gateProtect Aktiengesellschaft Germany is a leading manufacturer of IT security solutions in the field of network security. Its main products are xUTM appliance systems, firewall systems, managed security systems and VPN client systems.

Unique selling point

In addition to the technical highlights, the really special feature of all gateProtect products is the unique handling and usability of the systems. Worldwide, gateProtect is the leading vendor that implements the ISO NORM 9241 specifications for ergonomic product design throughout its range of products. With the unique, patented eGUI(R) Technology gateProtect sets new standards with regard to the configuration and administration of UTM-Firewall systems. The new eGUI(R) Ttechnology leads to a significant increase in the provision of effective security in companies as well as to an enormous increase in efficiency in the ongoing maintenance of the systems. In turn, this has a direct impact in terms of bringing about lower operating costs for companies.

Customers/Clients

32,000 installations in Europe. The company's clients include well known companies and institutions such as TUV Thuringen, E.ON Energie, The Moroccan Ministry of Justice, Galileo Satellite Systems, Deutsche Bahn and Constantin Film. The primary target groups amongst clients are cross-sector SMEs as well as institutions with up to 10,000 staff. Further information is available at http://www.gateProtect.de.

This press release is also available at http://www.gateprotect.com.

SOURCE gateProtect AG Germany