Really successful technology partnerships are hard to achieve and therefore are rare. There are so many potential pitfalls in this type of partnership that include conflicting goals, changing market conditions, and on and on. That’s why I am particularly pleased with our partnership with Symantec on the IBM Enterprise platform versions of PGP encryption. This technology partnership now spans more than a decade and several mergers and acquisitions. The level of trust and integration between Townsend Security and Symantec has just gotten better over time, and our IBM i (AS/400, iSeries) customers and IBM System z Mainframe customers have benefited.
One thing that has confused our customers is where they should go to get information and to license PGP Command Line for the IBM Enterprise platforms.
It can be hard to negotiate the Symantec web site to locate the PGP Command Line products. And calling Symantec’s 800 number can be downright disorienting. Symantec provides a large number of security and system management products, and finding the PGP products can be hard. Of course, you can always go to the old PGP web site, and it will re-direct you to the Symantec site. That helps, but not many people know about that little short-cut.
Here is a better idea – you can just go directly to the Townsend Security web site and you will be starting in the right place. Just select the PGP option under products.
IBM System z customers will be glad to know that we’ve partnered with Software Diversified Systems (SDS) to provide sales management and customer support that meets the Mainframe customer’s expectations of knowledge and experience with that platform. Just select the PGP Command Line product under their Products link. SDS and their worldwide partner network have really provided the Mainframe experience and depth of knowledge that customers expect. That’s also been a great partnership.
If you are an IBM Enterprise platform customer, save yourself some time and trouble. Go straight to Townsend Security or SDS for your PGP Command Line encryption solutions.
Patrick