Sophos UTM Endpoint Protection - Sales discontinued
Before we pop the corks for what will hopefully be a good new year 2019, there is one more important and somewhat last-minute announcement from Sophos.
As of 31 December 2018 Sophos is discontinuing sales of Sophos UTM Endpoint Protection. Support will continue to be provided until the end of 2019.
For us, UTM Endpoint Protection has effectively been non-existent for years. Sophos has neglected this product and has not developed it functionally any further since Sophos Central (formerly Sophos Cloud) appeared in the portfolio. In our view, the end-of-sale for this outdated product is long overdue. Since the future clearly belongs to the XG Firewall with SFOS, Sophos Central with Synchronized Security has long been the better solution anyway.
Free upgrade to Sophos Central
End customers with an active Sophos UTM Endpoint Protection license do not need to panic. Sophos offers a free migration to Sophos Central Endpoint (CEP) for the remaining term of your existing licenses.
We naturally recommend this upgrade to all affected customers, because it not only makes endpoint management significantly easier, it also brings protection back up to date.
Further information on the migration process: How to migrate from UTM Endpoint Protection to Sophos Central Endpoint Protection
Attractive renewal offer when migrating from UTM to Central
If, in addition to the free migration to Sophos Central Endpoint (CEP), you also plan to use this solution long term, you can benefit from a very attractive renewal offer until 28 June 2019:
When you purchase a 3-year license for Central Endpoint Protection (CEP) or Central Intercept X with Endpoint Advanced (CIXA), you only pay the price of a 1-year license. We encourage all end customers to upgrade to CIXA in order to obtain the best possible next-gen endpoint protection.
Reason for the sudden sales stop
The reason Sophos is retiring this product at such short notice is a Windows 10 release that Microsoft will ship in the first half of 2019. This update forces the Sophos UTM Endpoint to unregister itself from the Windows Security Center (WSC). As a result, Windows Defender will run in parallel with the Sophos endpoint. It is impossible to predict what impact this may have.
Sophos therefore strongly recommends that you only roll out this new Windows release once all clients have been migrated to Central Endpoint Protection (CEP) or Central Intercept X Advanced (CIXA).
Existing UTM Endpoint Protection customers can renew their existing license up to a maximum of 31.12.2019. However, customers must take into account the potential limitations caused by the upcoming Microsoft Windows 10 update 19H1 (RS6), with which compatibility is no longer guaranteed.
