An email from Scott Schnell
September 23, 2004
Dear Susan,
Thank you for writing to me to share your concerns regarding the need for strong authentication in the small business market sector, and the difficulties very small businesses have in justifying a purchase of larger configurations of RSA SecurID two-factor authentication. I appreciate your comments that small businesses have data that is just as critical and sensitive as data held by larger organizations, and that smaller firms like yours need protective security as much as the rest of us. I hear you loud and clear.
I am pleased to let you know that in response to your request we will be adding a 10-user RSA SecurID and ACE/Server combination to our offering over the next 90 days.
Additionally, I would like to mention a few other steps we are taking that help us to better serve the small business owner.
Easy-to-use, cost-effective strong two-factor authentication must be made more accessible to all businesses and consumers. You might be interested to know that RSA Security has a very strong customer base outside of the large enterprise market, and already serves thousands of small-to-medium sized businesses. Small businesses have been a key part of our new customer base here at RSA Security for the past few years, and the rapidly evolving SBS community you know so well has been of particular interest to our business and product strategists.
We are attacking this challenge from a number of perspectives, as the needs of both small and medium sized businesses are as diverse as the businesses themselves.
You are doubtless aware that we have extended our strategic partnership with Microsoft to develop RSA SecurID for Microsoft Windows, bringing two-factor authentication inside the firewall - creating more value for RSA SecurID users. This means that we're replacing the Windows password with two-factor authentication, bringing greater security, simplicity, and consistency to the logon process. Please check it out at: http://www.rsasecurity.com/node.asp?id=1173
In an effort to make our products more cost-effective and available to those with limited IT resources, we have also signed on with several managed service providers to offer token-based authentication services as part of their managed VPN and firewall services on a subscription basis. Providers offering this service include AT&T, CSC, Betrusted, RedSiren and Fiberlink.
To reach small businesses in more locations, we have expanded our VAR channel significantly, and have also signed a contract with Ingram Micro, the world's largest technology distributor with a reach to over 160,000 resellers.
And this past Tuesday was a major milestone for RSA Security as we announced that America Online is providing RSA SecurID - the "AOL Passcode" - to their customers to protect their accounts with strong authentication. This is being offered as a premium service at a one-time cost of $9.95 for each token, plus an additional $1.95-$4.95 a month depending on the number of supported screen names. AOL serves a significant small business community, and small businesses and home offices are a primary target market for the AOL Passcode, so we, as you urged, are getting our tokens to the little guys. For more information on our AOL news: http://www.rsasecurity.com/press_release.asp?doc_id=5033
Finally, I am pleased to let you know that our product development team here at the company is looking at many new products and innovative ways to make RSA SecurID solutions easier to acquire, install, and manage for small organizations.
I would be grateful if you would let us know if you, or your fellow SBSers, would be interested in providing us with input on products that will seek to serve the SBS market. If so, please contact Ms. Kristin Kupres, the director of our authentication product management team. Kristin tells me she would also be eager to hear any other suggestions, questions or concerns that you would personally like to offer. Please feel free to write to her directly at kristin.kupres - at - rsasecurity.com.
Best regards,
Scott Schnell
Senior Vice President, Sales, Marketing and Professional Services
[I think that's indeed a rubber tree moving across the floor I see - and today is definitely a good tilt/windmill day :-) ]
![[There's a reason that Yoda is the unofficial mascot of SBS. Size indeed matters not.]](http://www.sbslinks.com/images/headertop.png "There's a reason that Yoda is the unofficial mascot of SBS. Size indeed matters not!")