NAI Rolls out Security Consulting Arm

On the heels of its takeover of McAfee.com, Santa Clara, Calif.-based
Network Associates has created a new business group that
hawks networking and security-related consulting services.

In what is seen as a shift from depending on consumer-driven services, the
company’s new Network Associates
Expert Services group will now offer consulting and educations services
on all phases of network and security management for enterprise clients.

It offers packaged and custom consulting engagements for network assessment,
network design, product deployment and network downtime emergency response
and Network Associates said its consultants would train corporate clients on
the ins and outs of responding to emergencies as they occur.

The new business initiative has been set up in three phases with the Expert
Network Services offering packaged and custom consulting services on demand.
“Expert Network Services’ consultants are experts in fault isolation and
performance management and have a thorough knowledge of the
inter-relationship of network instrumentation, design, and traffic,” the
company said, adding its on-demand experts can be hired to deal with network
performance, availability, and security issues.

The new professional services unit would also offer consulting to help a
client install and configure software products sold by Network Associates
and its McAfee.com division. The company’s enterprise software include
McAfee Security, Sniffer Technologies and the browser-based Magic Solutions
help desk.

IT managers having trouble integrating third-party networking or security
products can also call on the expert group, NAI said.

The unit’s Expert Security Services arm is also services for penetration
testing and wireless security assessment, security breaches anti-virus
screening and risk analysis.

The company’s Expert Educational Services arm would provide training courses
for network management, security, and anti-virus technology.