gateProtect is dramatically increasing its presence in the African market. The German-based IT security specialist, which was mainly focused on the western part of the continent, has now signed a distribution agreement with AfricaSD. This value-added distributor (VAD) is headquartered in Pretoria, South Africa, and serves the entire southern African region.

Hamburg, Germany. September 19, 2011 – With the appointment of AfricaSD, gateProtect has extended its partner network (http://www.gateprotect.com/en-GB/partners/findpartner.html) by adding a growing company with a strong market position. AfricaSD has subsidiaries in Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban as well as in Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Angola and Tanzania, reflecting increasing local demand for IT security solutions. The distribution agreement between the two firms covers the entire southern African region, including Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Swaziland. To help AfricaSD meet the strong demand in these areas, gateProtect will support the VAD with joint customer visits and roadshows as well as with mailings, promotional activities, training courses and certifications.

AfricaSD and gateProtect set to expand
“When companies and public authorities decide to select a firewall, there are several things they need to take into account that can make all the difference in how well their IT environment is protected,” explains Hennie Moolman, Managing Director of AfricaSD. “There are several reasons why gateProtect’s innovative firewall solutions convinced us that they were the best – the main one being the easy-to-use eGUI technology. It really sets the standard for the configuration of security systems and increases security and efficiency to unmatched levels. Another thing that’s really important for us is that it’s easy to regulate the bandwidth used. Without this feature, the infrastructure in a lot of places could quickly be pushed to its limits.”

Dennis Monner, CEO of gateProtect, adds: “The demand for our intuitive eGUI technology is huge in the region, as we have learned from our meetings there. Alongside ease of use, the technical requirements of companies in southern Africa include capabilities for bandwidth regulation and blocking data traffic. An example of why this is important is video streaming in schools, which could easily paralyze the infrastructure. Internet connections in this region are not yet at the same levels as in western Europe. To meet the growing demand on a local level, we’ve decided to work with the distributor AfricaSD as it has an excellent position in this market and an outstanding reputation.”

More information at http://www.gateprotect.com and http://www.phronesis.de