What sort of software is available from Symantec? Have you considered this when looking at a specific product, either to replace existing applications, or to add to an existing Symantec product. Have you ever wanted to show a potential customer how particular Symantec product worked but were unsure of how to do this?
- Not-for-Resale Software
NFR software is essentially fully functional software that Symantec allows members of the partner network to download and access. All features are available with either no license required to be installed, or a license that doesn’t expire needs to be added. In order to access this, you need to be a partner of Symantec’s and this would be used primarily in 1 of 2 places:
- An internal company test lab to see how the product works and potentially trial it over a longer period of time;
- Use this on a mobile lab (say a laptop) and show customers on their site how a specific product works and lay the foundations for a sale if you’re a solutions architect.
However, NFR licenses are not to be run in a productive environment, either in your company or on a client’s site as you would need to comply with stringent software licenses.
- Trial Software
Symantec offers trial software for most of their applications, including Symantec Endpoint Protection, Desktop Encryption and Ghost Solution Suite for example. A trial version of the software is a timed evaluation of the product, and usually lasts 30 or 60 days before expiring and requiring a full license to be installed, or the product uninstalled.
This is a great way to test the product in your environment and get to grips with how it works, and what benefits it offers your business. Close to the trial period expiring, you would either choose to purchase production licenses, or let the trial expire and uninstall the application completely. For the most part, there is no extension to a trial license.
- Fully Licensed Software
If you have run the trial, or seen how NFR software works, or simply want to run Symantec applications in your environment, you buy the licenses and the way the software is licensed varies. You would contact a Symantec partner, or a distributor and then look at what the licensing requirements are before purchasing it. This would be the last step in your evaluation of the software, and ensures you’re running fully working software with all legal requirements to run it taken care of.
This is simply a guide to the types of software, and will assist you in ensuring you make the right choice when evaluating any Symantec product.