Symantec, Virus and Spyware - Tuesday, June 10, 2008 14:54 - 1 Comment

Comparing the top business anti-virus software

Corporate and business antivirus scanners

Over the years we have had the benefit to work with many antivirus vendors and their products, for those who are looking for a comparison of our top picks for business class anti-virus we have written up an overview from our own experiences.



Symantec
While Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition came out ahead in overall performance, it was somewhat lacking in ease of use and installation qualities. There is a lot of work involved when installing product, and the administrator may find the job especially tedious on a large network.

Functionally, Symantec’s ACE is assuredly top of the line. It provides for detecting a possible virus and quarantine of that file for analysis by the administrator or Symantec. This Digital Immune System was developed in conjunction with IBM, and really sets this product apart.

McAfee
Perhaps the best known of Antivirus Corporate Editions, McAfee offers a high degree of reliability at the cost of simplicity in use. In addition to virus protection, this product offers limited but effective spyware and adware protection as well, plus SiteAdvisors Web safety ratings to help you identify potential trouble locations.

Installation is not overly difficult, but does require multiple stages to complete properly. And while this may be a deterrent for administrators, the scanner makes up for it by including a few network tools, such as McAfee QuickClean which can be used to clean up the cookie collections, clear temp folders, and other useful tasks.

Sophos
For those who demand a product that’s fully functional and easy to implement, this is the corporate antivirus scanner of choice. As a stand alone scanner, Sophos beats out both McAfee and Symantec in usability and speed. But at the administration level, it starts to go bad.

Excluding files that must be scanned is a manual project, and it may even require the editing of .INI files to accomplish some exclusions. Overall, there is very little automation in this product. While it may be powerful and fast, the initial set up is a long and bulky process.

Trend Micro
Trend Micro OfficeScan Corporate Edition is a bird of a different color. It starts off being less expensive than the high-end models, such as Mcafee and Symantec, and gets better from there. The scanner/disinfector is web-based, and can be accessed from the server or any workstation. It is as reliable as Symantec, and about as easy to implement as an administrator could want.

While no antivirus software is fun to use, Trend Micro has made it less of a burden. Administration as well as installation can be accomplished without visiting every workstation, and its results are comparable to other big-name products.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com