Websense cuts list prices to keep SurfControl customers

Handful of customers up for renewal.

Websense has launched discounts of 25 percent to 30 percent to keep its SurfControl customers as competitors circled.

The vendor, which bought SurfControl in 2007, said it launched a promotion a week ago to enable SurfControl customers to migrate to a Websense platform "for the same price as they paid for their SurfControl product".

That equated to a saving of 25 percent based on Websense prices, said A/NZ marketing manager David Brophy.

Websense also announced 30 percent off the list price for its hosted email or web solutions.

New customers would save 20 percent when buying Websense's web security gateway product.

Channel margins would remain consistent: "We don't change our channel margins," said Websense A/NZ partner manager Daniel Crnkovich.

Crnkovich, who came across to Websense from SurfControl, said there was only "a handful of customers" that had not either renewed their SurfControl subscriptions or migrated to Websense.

"It's really only customers coming off a three-year deal," he said.

He said Websense would support current SurfControl kit until 2013. Websense had also continued to add new features, Crnkovich said.

Clearswift this week expanded a competitive trade-in offer to cover kit from all web and email gateway security vendors. The offer previously covered only Blue Coat and former SurfControl customers.

Customers could trade in their web gateway for a Clearswift web appliance and "pay only for support and update subscriptions", it said.