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Peapod secures Microsoft gold partner status(Microscope Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Microsoft is continuing to strengthen its relationships with resellers that have expertise in the security sector, with the appointment of Peapod as a gold partner a case in point. Security specialist Peapod has been handed the new status, which will ensure it receives more resources from the vendor as well as a closer relationship. Chris Durnan, managing director of Peapod, said Microsoft needed more security-focused gold partners to meet its increased attention to security. Microsoft needs more partners specialised in security now that the company has turned itself around from being seen as an insecure vendor to a secure one, he added. Everything Microsoft does goes through more rigorous security processes. He claimed Microsofts ISA server product could only be fully realised if a customer had the skills at hand to harness it fully and by making more security resellers gold partners it was recognising the need to give customers access to the right level of support. Bernie Dodwell, European security manager at Westcon, said any manufacturer of IT infrastructure and application products must work closely with the security channel. You cannot ignore the security channel because it looks at security as a whole, he added. Today there are hundreds of applications on a network running different security but you cannot have a different company to manage each one. Microsoft was not available for comment. |