Dell, Symantec Go on Offense Against Out-of-Control Email; Companies Deliver First Validated Blueprint for Simplified Email Security, Management.

ROUND ROCK, Texas & CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) and Symantec have joined forces to deliver a one-two punch to out-of-control email.

As businesses grapple with securing and managing their IT infrastructures, the companies today announced Secure Exchange, an end-to-end offering that takes time and complexity out of deploying a secure, reliable Microsoft Exchange environment with extensive archiving capabilities.

Secure Exchange, an industry-first validated offering, is based on the Microsoft Exchange expertise Dell has gained from migrating more than four million Exchange and Active Directory mailboxes. The offering includes a jointly engineered reference architecture with hardware and software, expanded services and sizing tools that provide a step-by-step blueprint to simplify data security, backup, recovery and archiving.

Secure Exchange is made up of Dell PowerEdge(TM) servers, PowerVault(TM) storage, Dell/EMC storage and Symantec products, including Symantec Mail Security 8200 Series, Symantec Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange, Symantec Enterprise Vault, and Backup Exec. Dell services are tailored for each offering.

"Dell and Symantec are bringing together deeply integrated hardware, software and services solutions to help customers regain control of rapidly growing email environments," said Brad Anderson, senior vice president, Dell Enterprise Product Group. "Secure Exchange builds on our ability to help customers take the complexity out of deploying mission-critical enterprise applications with the expertise to tailor solutions that meet specific customer needs."

The need for effective email management is evident with the nearly 84 billion emails being sent daily worldwide in 2006, according to IDC(1). Today, occurrences of viruses are commonplace and spam accounts for 75-90 percent of an organization's email(2). Additionally, looming regulatory compliance deadlines require email archiving. According to Gartner, Inc., a leading industry analyst firm, 50 percent of medium-sized companies are not putting enough funding behind compliance activities(3).

"As email continues to be a critical business application, technology leaders must provide the tools customers need to manage their environment more effectively so that they can concentrate on business growth and customer service," said Jeremy Burton, group president, Security and Data Management Group, Symantec. "The new offering represents a compelling combination of hardware, software and services that will help customers take control of their email."

The Secure Exchange reference architecture is a guide for mid-sized customers with 500 to 2,000 users or more who want to deploy secure and available email infrastructures without the work of creating their own. Engineers combined hardware and software to test the interoperability of all components and performance so customers can predictably deploy modular or complete solutions. The knowledge and empirical data from those efforts were applied to the Exchange Advisor, a Dell-designed sizing tool that enables customers to scope configuration and implementation needs for performance or availability.

Dell also expanded assessment, design, implementation and training services to help customers easily deploy Microsoft Exchange and Symantec solutions. Additionally, Dell's most advanced enterprise support offering, Platinum Plus, as well as Gold Enterprise Support, is available to customers deploying Secure Exchange.

Availability and Pricing

Available today in the United States and Europe, the starting list price for a 500-seat modular backup and recovery solution, including hardware, software licenses and services, is approximately $54,678. It includes Dell PowerEdge 1950s, PowerVault 110T and M1000, Microsoft(R) Windows Server(TM) 2003, Microsoft(R) Exchange 2003 and Symantec Backup Exec.

Secure Exchange will be sold by Dell and will be supported and sustained by Dell and Symantec. For more information, visit www.dell.com/secure_exchange. Extensive engineering work performed by Dell and Symantec forms the basis of the Symantec Enterprise Messaging Management for Microsoft Exchange Yellow Book, which can be found at www.symantec.com/yellowbooks.

Today's announcement adds to Dell's existing Exchange solutions based on industry-leading messaging and archiving products from EMC. EMC's Centera content-addressed storage system is a highly valued component of Dell's exchange solutions that handles long-term, online archiving of fixed content or unalterable data such as email. For more information, visit www.dell.com/emc.

About Dell

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell sells more systems globally than any computer company, placing it No. 25 on the Fortune 500. Company revenue for the past four quarters was $57.4 billion. For more information, visit www.dell.com/RSS.

About Symantec

Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) is the world leader in providing solutions to help individuals and enterprises assure the security, availability, and integrity of their information. Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Symantec has operations in more than 40 countries. More information is available at www.symantec.com.

Pricing, specifications, availability, and terms of offers may change without notice. Taxes, fees, and shipping and handling charges are extra, and vary.

Dell is a trademark of Dell Inc. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

1. IDC, Worldwide Email Usage 2005-2009 Forecast: Email's Future Depends on Keeping Its Value High and Its Cost Low, Doc #34504, Dec 2005.

2. Gartner Inc., April 2006, Benchmarking Anti-Spam Effectiveness, Peter Firstbrook 

3. Gartner Inc., March 2006, Adapting Large-Enterprise Approaches to the Midsize, John Bace and Chuck Tucker