Virus and Spyware - Friday, July 4, 2008 14:56 - 0 Comments

Retail antivirus VS Corporate antivirus

Retail Antivirus Packages Vs Corporate Versions

Someone asked me, “What’s the difference between retail and corporate antivirus software?” the other day.  After I looked into it, I came back with a couple of major variations between the two.

Retail applications, antivirus software included, are designed for isolated users.  A retail antiviral application is installed on one computer, and ignores any other nodes on the network, in most instances.  It doesn’t attempt to search beyond the limits of the computer it is first used on, in simple speak.  For this type of package, everything connected to the computer is regarded as a possible hazard, and treated as an outside influence.

The corporate version, on the other hand, is specifically designed with networks in mind.  It can usually be installed from a single location, and then propagate throughout the network.  This expands the protection to most or all of the nodes on the network, offering far greater protection for much larger groups of computers.  System administrators are able to make configuration changes at the local, or server level, and those changes are then applied globally on the network, keeping the all nodes equally covered by the latest virus definitions and software updates without physically applying them to each computer.

Another major difference is that retail packages have value-added features, commonly referred to as “bells and whistles”.  While the home user may be impressed by these largely cosmetic enhancements, administrators may find them to be an inconvenience, or even completely counter-productive for the organization.  In a corporate environment, a streamlined, easy to use application is much more desirable than one which requires configuration of many unwieldy aspects that provide little or no additional protection.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com