Embedded in the recent flood of announcements from Microsoft was the company's new security strategy. The software maker announced that it will be ending its retail product, Windows Live OneCare, as well as Equipt (the SaaS offering that OneCare was also bundled into). The cancellation of both its traditional software and its repackaged SaaS double (Equipt's less than a year after its release) illustrates the company's inability to gain ground against traditional stalwarts like McAfee and Symantec -- both companies having built a business on securing Windows operating systems with a combination of add-on software and subscription fees.
Along with this abrupt departure the company revealed its next moves into the future of internet security. To replace its desktop offering Microsoft revealed two completely new server based security developments: a free consumer version slated to come out in mid 2009 and a enterprise level SaaS product to be released sometime in 2010. Mircosoft's new strategy seems based on the premise that the old model for security services is no longer viable. The free consumer version especially appears to be an attempt at undercutting its competitors profit model.
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