Sophos helps simplify Wi-Fi protection with central management platform

Global leader in network and endpoint security Sophos has announced the availability of Sophos Wireless, its first cloud-based solution for the protection and management of wireless networks.

Managed through the Sophos Central platform, Sophos customers and partners can now secure and manage wireless networking in a single console alongside their Sophos endpoint, mobile, web and server protection.

According to Nolan Greene, a senior research analyst from IDC's Network Infrastructure group, the cloud-managed Wi-Fi market continues to be among the fastest growing sub-segments of the Wi-Fi market as many organizations realize its power to enable the benefits of working with mobility in a wireless device-centric world.

"Unified wired and wireless management and security are also becoming more important in ensuring quality of user and manager experience, security, visibility, and compliance on the cloud-managed network. These trends lead to tremendous opportunities for value-added resellers and MSPs to respond rapidly to their customers' changing wireless network needs," he said.

"Today, there are very few businesses that do not provide a wireless network to allow employees or visitors to stay connected and the management of those networks is critical to maintaining an organization's IT security," commented Bryan Barney, senior vice president and general manager of Sophos Network Security Group.

"Our war-biking research into the state of wireless network security showed that very few wireless networks adhered to security best practices and some were using protocols so ancient that attackers could break into their networks in seconds," he added.

Sophos Wireless uses the proven range of Sophos Access Points which can also be managed on-premise via Sophos SG UTM and XG Firewall, key features for wireless setup and control includes at-a-glance dashboard with network and client connectivity data, traffic usage insights based upon Web categorization, easy multi-site management and setup and others.

The specialized partner dashboard allows partners and managed service providers (MSPs) to manage and configure wireless settings, distributes licenses, add new customers and provides a real-time perspective on all customer activity.

The single pane of glass dashboard also shows all Sophos Central services their customers subscribe to making cross and up sell opportunities clear and helping partners drive recurring revenue.

Sophos sells exclusively through its channel of more than 20,000 resellers worldwide and is dedicated to the growth and success of partners. As part of the new program and Sophos' "channel first, channel only" business strategy, the company offers partners sales consulting training and certification, co-branded marketing assets, 24/7 support and in-depth Sophos Central dashboard training to help build the skills and expertise of its partners.