CUPERTINO, Calif., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Trend Micro Incorporated , a global leader in Internet content security, announced today that Trend Micro ScanMail for Exchange has the lowest total cost of ownership and saves businesses the most amount of time and money, according to an independent research firm.

The survey, conducted by Osterman Research and commissioned by Trend Micro, compared four messaging security solutions designed for Microsoft Exchange environments - Trend Micro ScanMail for Exchange (7.0 or later), McAfee GroupShield for Exchange (5.0 or later), Microsoft/Sybari ForeFront Security/Antigen for Exchange (8.0 or later) and Symantec Mail Security for Exchange (5.0 or later).

The survey concluded that the total three-year cost of ownership for the four solutions are: $141,237 for Trend Micro; $202,523 for McAfee; $271,513 for Microsoft; and $237,108 for Symantec for organizations with 2500 seats.

Survey findings were based on Web-based surveys and phone interviews with over 100 enterprise-level IT decision makers about the time and resources they have invested into purchasing, deploying and managing their antivirus and anti-spam solutions.

"Our analysis concluded that Trend Micro ScanMail provides a lower cost of ownership compared to the other three offerings due primarily to lower ongoing administration which happens to be the principal cost of ownership and the most significant differentiator when considering a mail server security offering," said Michael Osterman, founder and president of Osterman Research. "Among the offerings from reputable vendors, customers using ScanMail for Exchange are spending half of what they would pay for some other solutions."

In a recent report from InformationWeek, 53 percent of all CIOs cited the burden of ongoing IT maintenance as a major obstacle.(1) CIOs, once simply responsible for technical infrastructure and support, are playing a larger, more strategic role within a company. As a result, time and money saved in ongoing IT maintenance can be used to drive innovation and profit.

"We are not surprised by the results of this TCO study. Trend Micro ScanMail for Exchange has protected our email infrastructure for about 6 years and it pretty much runs itself," said Jim Ferguson, senior exchange administrator for Axcelis Technologies. "Effective mail-server security solutions are essential for businesses. However, no company wants to spend a lot of time and money to deploy and manage these products when those resources can be used for more strategic purposes."

Highlights from the research report include: -- Over a three year period, Trend Micro customers spent the least amount of time on mail server security (2,282 person hours), which is nearly half the time spent by Symantec customers (4,165 person hours) and Microsoft customers (4,715 person hours.) -- In software and administrative costs, Trend Micro customers reported the lowest 3-year TCO ($141,237), almost half that of Symantec ($237,108) and Microsoft ($275,513) customers. -- Trend Micro required the least installation effort, configuration and pilot testing among all vendors, almost one-third that of Symantec (106 vs. 292 person hours.) -- Trend Micro customers spend the least amount of time on weekly operational administration (only 12 hours per week or 624 hours per year), compared to Symantec customers who said they spend nearly double the time (23 hours per week or 1,196 hours per year) and Microsoft customers who reported more than double the time (27.5 hours per week or 1430 hours per year.)

For the full report, please visit: http://messagingsecurity.trendmicro.com/OstermanStudy

About Trend Micro:

Trend Micro, a global leader in Internet content security, focuses on securing the exchange of digital information for businesses and consumers. A pioneer and industry vanguard, Trend Micro is advancing integrated threat management technology to protect operational continuity, personal information, and property from malware, spam, data leaks and the newest Web threats. Its flexible solutions, available in multiple form factors, are supported 24/7 by threat intelligence experts around the globe. A transnational company, with headquarters in Tokyo, Trend Micro's trusted security solutions are sold through its business partners worldwide.

Copyright (C) 2008. Trend Micro Incorporated. All rights reserved. Trend Micro, Trend Micro t-ball logo and ScanMail are trademarks or registered trademarks of Trend Micro, Incorporated. All other product or company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their owners. Trend Micro Incorporated reserves the right to make changes to this document and to the products described herein without notice.

(1) "Defining the CIO: An InformationWeek Research Report," InformationWeek,

2007

CONTACT: Christina Sarracino of Trend Micro, +1-408-850-1069,
Christina_sarracino@trendmicro.com

Web site: http://www.trendmicro.com/