If you thought MSPmentor was done talking about freemium, think again. Internet security vendor Websense has launched DLP (data loss prevention) for Download, a product that’s free to their channel partners for the first 30 days. The move somewhat reminds us of a similar strategy over at Sophos, which offers DLP for free with its endpoint security solution. Here’s a closer look at DLP trends.

The idea, according to a Websense spokesperson, is to give customers and partners alike the ability to test their DLP solution for themselves. Websense says the free DLP deploys in less than 30 minutes and is ready for production environments with the mere entry of a license key.

There’s no company on this planet that doesn’t worry to some degree about the loss of sensitive data, but Websense says that the complexity of deployment and months-long setups for existing solutions are huge barriers to adoption. Websense seeks to eliminate those hurdles with a deployment wizard that guides partners through setup, plus video tutorials and setup guides.

Still, MSPmentor’s inclined to treat announcements like this critically — despite the best efforts of several vendors, DLP hasn’t quite reached critical mass in the IT channel. That said, Websense has a history of working with channel partners, and it’ll be interesting to see reactions to DLP for Download.

Websense certainly isn’t the first company to offer a freemium DLP strategy. Sophos introduced free DLP capabilities with its endpoint security offerings in October 2009.

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