Webroot a leader in cloud-based security intelligence solutions, today announced highlights from its fourth quarter and 2013 fiscal year operations which ended June 30, 2013. Notable achievements include attainment of the top market-share position in the U.S. retail security software category, surpassing one million users of its mobile security solutions, and the addition of thousands of new business customers.
Significant Year-Over-Year Growth
Webroot achieved significant year-over-year growth in fiscal 2013, driven by strong demand for its SecureAnywhere Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions. Webroot first introduced these cloud-based services in 2011, and saw continued acceleration in this business during the past fiscal year. Sales of these new services grew 173 percent and adoption was strong across all customer segments. New small and medium business (SMB) accounts grew by 200 percent, and SMB endpoints under protection increased by 315 percent, while sales in the consumer segment grew 36 percent, and new mobile security accounts increased 134 percent.
"We had a great year at Webroot and are very pleased with the continued adoption of our unique products and services among consumers, small and mid-sized businesses and enterprises," said Dick Williams, Webroot CEO. "As a SaaS company, we are growing very quickly. We have actually acquired more business customers thanSalesforce.com and Workday did in their first two years. We believe the market has recognized that traditional security solutions can no longer provide adequate protection against the complex and fast-moving threats they now face, and are turning to Webroot's cloud-based security-as-a-service solutions to identify and block those threats more quickly. Virtually all aspects of our business showed strong growth this year, which is a testament to our employees, our partners and the solutions we bring to market."
Dominance in Retail and Continued Growth in Mobile Mark Stellar Fourth Quarter
Webroot's fiscal year was capped by several significant achievements in the fourth quarter. In the consumer market, Webroot captured the top market share position in the US retail security software category, holding 38 percent share in units sold, and outpacing competitors Symantec and Kaspersky by more than 10 points, according to an April 2013 report from The NPD Group1.
"The endpoint security market continues to evolve along with the threat landscape. Webroot has made significant strides in the retail channel, and consumers have taken notice of the company's high performance and highly effective cloud-based protection against malware and identity theft," said Michael Suby, Vice President of Research at analyst firm Frost & Sullivan.
In addition to the retail channel, overall demand for Webroot's PC, Mac, and mobile endpoint security solutions continued to gain momentum, as it added a new endpoint under protection every 4.8 seconds, and surpassed one million users of its SecureAnywhere Mobile products during the fourth quarter.
Partnerships Drove Expansion in FY2013
Throughout the fiscal year, Webroot secured a number of technology and channel partnerships to rapidly expand delivery of its security services and technologies worldwide. Recent announcements include an expanded relationship with Facebook, to protect the social network provider's more than one billion users worldwide from malicious links within their newsfeeds, and a new partnership with RSA, the Security Division of EMC, to provide real-time phishing detection as part of the RSA FraudActionSM Anti-Phishing Service. Webroot also recently added Saudi Arabian-based distributor ValueBoxx, and Malaysia-based distributor Agile Networks to its rapidly growing global channel network, replacing competitors in both accounts.
Webroot also achieved significant growth during the fiscal year within the managed service provider (MSP) segment, signing more than 150 new MSPs since beginning the initiative in late 2012. MSPs are rapidly adopting Webroot SecureAnywhere® Business – Endpoint Protection to protect their clients and provide remote security management and administration. Among the most prominent developments in this growing customer segment was Webroot's four-year global agreement with Anittel, one of the world's largest MSPs, to deploy Webroot's protection to 10,000 customer endpoints.
"After an extensive review of the majority of anti-malware products available on the market, Anittel chose Webroot for its revolutionary 'no definition' update model, its small install and scanning footprint, and its excellent detection and remediation abilities," commented Rob Pickering, Chief Technology Officer at Anittel. "We expect that the deployment of this will save significant amounts of our staff's time and lead our customers to have a much better managed antivirus experience than our previous solution."
New Security Services Introduced
Webroot's growth was also accelerated by the introduction of new services using the benefits of the security-as-a-service platform it created in 2011. New offerings introduced in the fiscal year included:
Webroot SecureAnywhere Business Mobile Protection
Webroot Web Access Information Web Fraud Solution for Banking and Finance
Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus for Mac
Webroot SecureAnywhere System Analyzer for PC and Mac
Webroot Mobile Application Reputation Service
Webroot now offers more than 20 security-as-a-service solutions that provide endpoint protection, web filtering, mobile protection, and threat intelligence solutions including IP reputation, URL classification and reputation, application reputation, a real-time anti-phishing service, and an API-accessible malware determination service.
Industry Accolades
Earlier in the year, Webroot SecureAnywhere AntiVirus for consumers was named Antivirus Product of the Year and Editors Choice, and Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete was named Suite Product of the Year by PCMag.com, further confirming the company's dominance as the market leader.
Furthermore, Webroot received Gold AV certification from OPSWAT for its Webroot SecureAnywhere Antivirus 2013, Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete 2013, Webroot SecureAnywhere Internet Security Plus 2013, and Webroot SecureAnywhere Business – Endpoint Protection 2013. Gold certification is OPSWAT's top recognition for leading products that display the highest level of interoperability with third-party technology solutions.
