14 DAY TRIAL // Got some time to spare? Then head over at Microsoft's official website for Forefront and you will not regret it. However, you must know from the get go that no zombies, ninjas, aliens or secret agents were harmed in the making of this website. Microsoft has debuted a new marketing campaign for the Forefront security line emphasizing streamlined deployment, implementation and management.
The Redmond Company promises no less than to address the general customer frustration with the high level of complexity delivered by security products. "We wanted to connect with the customer in a new and different way," said Rob Bagot, executive vice president and executive creative director at McCann Worldgroup San Francisco. "By using humor in a relevant fashion, we can engage and inform IT professionals at the same time."
Microsoft has chosen an interesting marketing strategy in order to go against household names like Symantec and McAfee with the Forefront line of business security solutions. And - according to the Redmond Company - the customer input generated by the humorous metaphors of the Easy, Easier campaign has been positive.
"We've heard loud and clear from business customers that security products not only need to provide the greatest level of protection but also must be easy to manage and integrate with existing infrastructure. This ease of use is one of the key competitive differentiators that Microsoft brings to the market with its Forefront security products," said Steve Brown, director of product management for security and access product management at Microsoft.
Forefront Security for Exchange Server, Forefront Security for SharePoint, and Forefront Client Security beta are all Microsoft solutions made available under the Forefront umbrella. Internet Security and Acceleration Server (ISA Server) and Intelligent Application Gateway (IAG) 2007 are security solutions that Microsoft plans to release with the upcoming generation of products.