Symantec (News - Alert) Corp., provider of security, storage, and systems management solutions, announced that it will offer U.S. and Canada based partners with its Endpoint Protection.cloud and Backup Exec.cloud through the company's traditional distribution channel. Partners leveraging the Symantec cloud-based endpoint protection and backup solutions will now be able to benefit from optimized growth avenues in Software-as-a-Service (SaaS (News - Alert)).

Symantec's 2011 State of Cloud Survey indicates that partners are in the unique position to take advantage of the growth spurt resulting from the increase in demand for cloud services. This analysis is based on the fact that among the 5,300 companies that were surveyed, although less than 20 percent had gone ahead with the implementation of cloud-based solutions, close to 81 percent of the companies were currently in the process of evaluating deployment of cloud-based solutions. The company is completely focussed on offering its reseller partners with avenues for growth by leveraging its cloud solutions without the need for extensive investment.

In a release, Randy Cochran, vice president, Americas Channel Sales, Symantec Corp. (News - Alert), said, "Our partners are telling us that their customers want products in various form factors and Symantec is uniquely positioned to protect their customers with software, cloud services, or appliances. Before offering our Symantec.cloud solutions through our distribution channel, we conducted a pilot program to collect valuable feedback and ensure we are evolving to meet partner and customer needs. We understand that giving our partners more choice in how they deliver our solutions is critical to our joint success."

Channel partners of Symantec will now be able to offer their customers with protection from security risks while using their laptops, desktops, and file servers. Customers will also be provided with online backup and recovery services via cloud-based services from Symantec. The company will offer its partners both services through its distribution channel as annual subscriptions in addition to delivering 24x7 support.

Bob Stegner, senior vice president, Marketing North America, SYNNEX (News - Alert) Corporation, said, "The ability to adapt to the changing software landscape is critical to SYNNEX and our reseller partners' success. As cloud becomes more of a reality, our partners want a choice in how they run their businesses and need to be able to deliver either on-premise software or cloud services. Symantec's portfolio gives our resellers that choice, which is a huge advantage."