AVG CloudCare™ Marks Six Months in Market - Providing Continuous Enhancements for Simplified IT Mana

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AVG CloudCare™ Marks Six Months in Market - Providing Continuous Enhancements for Simplified IT Management for Small Businesses

  • SMB channel partner input drives fast-paced product evolution

  • Latest version allows partners to manage small business customers' IT from their iPad or iPhone

AMSTERDAM & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- When Mike Foreman was chosen to lead the small business group at AVG Technologies (NYS: AVG) , he was quick to tap into his own experience as a small business owner, having managed and sold two IT businesses before joining AVG. As a former reseller, he was also determined to create products and programs that work for both the partners and SMB customers.

That was the mindset that created AVG CloudCare™, the easy-to-use cloud based administration platform that allows remote deployment and management of IT and security services for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) at an affordable price. Since its launch six months ago in October 2012, AVG CloudCare has been adopted by more than 1000 channel partners serving thousands of small businesses in the US, UK and Ireland.


"One of the first things we did was ask our channel for feedback while the product was in its initial development phase, and we've relied on that feedback loop ever since to fine tune the product and evolve our roadmap," said Foreman, General Manager SMB for AVG Technologies. "You might say that since its inception, AVG CloudCare was designed to be an ongoing work in progress - continually improving."

There have been a series of product releases since October 2012, when the AVG CloudCare IT administrative platform with the award-winning AVG AntiVirus technology and AVG Content Filtering services was introduced commercially. In early 2013, AVG introduced the commercial edition of AVG Remote IT, an essential - and free - capability that allows SMBs and reseller partners to remotely access and deploy services, and trouble-shoot a wide range of issues on client devices. In March 2013, AVG added to the versatility of the service with the launch of AVG Email Security Services to expand protection to establish safer, more efficient, and spam-free business emails.

It's the channel feedback and adoption that Foreman also credits with AVG winning five SMB Channel-related awards during the past six months, including The MSPWorld® Cup Award 2013 for Best Cloud Enabling Solution, Business Solutions Magazine 2013 Best Channel Vendor for Security Technology, a UBM Tech Channel Chief Award 2013, SMB Nation's 2012 Hot Shot Award for Security and the ASCII Group®'s Esteemed Noble Partner Award.

Partner input has helped both prioritize the features and the pace of improvements. For example, remote mobile and tablet device management consistently has ranked as a top request*. The latest version of AVG CloudCare, formally announced today, includes a new iOS™ administrative console that allows management of AVG CloudCare via an iPhone® or iPad® - helping IT providers provide faster response time to their customers. This is the first of many mobile applications on the roadmap planned for AVG CloudCare.

"Using the new iOS app I was able to view all my customers devices and to actively manage those devices right from my iPhone as if I was using the web interface," said AVG partner, Dwayne Smith, Executive Director, Vivid Clouds Limited in the UK. "This makes working on the go so much easier and will prove to be a valuable tool for partners in the day to day management of their customers accounts."

AVG MSP partner Kevin Kilpatrick, of Kilpatrick IT Solutions, elaborated further on the benefits of AVG CloudCare's mobile administrative console: "The more mobile devices become the better the cloud based solution, because we now have the ability to manage machines that are off network - all those mobile devices that are still reporting back to the central console. That's critical." To hear more about Kilpatrick's commentary on AVG CloudCare see the "Cloud Security for SMB Managed Service Providers" webinar available at: http://www.mspalliance.com/news-and-events/events/webinars/.

Other new and improved features in the latest release of AVG CloudCare include scheduled reporting, improved sales alerts, enhanced policy templates, and customizable support pages.

In addition, AVG has launched the AVG CloudCare Community, a new web forum exclusively for AVG CloudCare partners-and another vehicle for AVG partners to communicated directly with AVG and provide their input.

AVG CloudCare is a cloud-based IT administration platform provided to partners free-of-charge enabling them to roll out "pay-as-you-go" services that make it easier for them to manage and protect their small business customers. Free remote management tools, one-click service user activation plus easy policy deployment and automatic removal of older versions of AV software help to save time and reduce the need for onsite visits - allowing partners to serve even the smallest customer more profitably. Additional benefits include sales alerts and one-click reporting to help demonstrate partners' added value.

AVG CloudCare is available via AVG reseller and managed service partners in the US, UK and IR. AVG Remote IT is offered for free. For all other AVG CloudCare services, customers pay only for the services they use with a convenient monthly billing option. To find out more and become an AVG CloudCare partner, go to www.avg.com/cloudcare.

For logos, screenshots and case study videos, please see the AVG CloudCare press kit: http://mediacenter.avg.com/en/press-tools/avg-cloudcare-press-kit/avg-cloudcare-press-kit.html

*AVG CloudCare Reseller Survey

About AVG Technologies (NYSE: AVG)

AVG's mission is to simplify, optimize and secure the Internet experience, providing peace of mind to a connected world. AVG's powerful yet easy-to‐use software and online services put users in control of their Internet experience. By choosing AVG's software and services, users become part of a trusted global community that benefits from inherent network effects, mutual protection and support. AVG has grown its user base to 150 million active users as of March 31, 2013 and offers a product portfolio that targets the consumer and small business markets and includes Internet security, PC performance optimization, online backup, mobile security, identity protection and family safety software.

www.avg.com

Keep in touch with AVG

[iOS is a trademark or registered trademark of Cisco in the U.S. and other countries and is used under license.]



United States:
Krause Taylor Associates for AVG Technologies
Betty Taylor, + 1-408-981-7551
bettyt@krause-taylor.com
United Kingdom:
AVG Technologies
Paul Shlackman, +44 (0)7792 121510
PR Manager, SMB & Channel
paul.shlackman@avg.com

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