Symantec 2014 Annual Report Download - page 87

Research and Development
Symantec embraces a global research and development (“R&D”) strategy to drive organic innovation.
Engineers and researchers throughout the Company pursue advanced projects to translate R&D into customer
solutions by creating new technologies and integrating our unique set of technology assets. Symantec focuses on
short, medium, and long-term applied research, develops new products in emerging areas, participates in
government-funded research projects, drives industry standards, and partners with universities to conduct
research supporting Symantec’s strategy.
Symantec’s Security Technology and Response organization is a global team of security engineers, threat
analysts, and researchers that provides the underlying functionality, content, and support for many of our consumer,
small business and enterprise security products. Our security experts monitor malicious code reports collected
through the Global Intelligence Network to provide insight into emerging attacks, malicious code activity, phishing,
spam, and other threats. The team uses this vast amount of data and insights to develop new technologies and
approaches, such as Symantec’s reputation-based security technology, to protect customer information.
Research and development expenses, exclusive of in-process research and development associated with
acquisitions, were $1,038 million, $1,012 million, and $969 million in fiscal 2014, 2013, and 2012, respectively,
representing approximately 16% of revenue in fiscal 2014 and 15% and 14% of revenue in fiscal 2013 and 2012,
respectively. We believe that technical leadership is essential to our success and we expect to continue to commit
substantial resources to R&D.
Support
Symantec has support facilities throughout the world, staffed by technical product experts knowledgeable in
the operating environments in which our products are deployed. Our technical support experts assist customers
with issue resolution and threat detection.
We provide consumers with various levels of support offerings. Consumers that subscribe to LiveUpdate
receive automatic downloads of the latest virus definitions, application bug fixes, and patches for most of our
consumer products. Our standard consumer support program provides self-help online services and phone, chat,
and email support to consumers worldwide. Our Norton One membership features elite-level support, which
includes an under two-minute wait time for phone calls, an instant call back feature, and virus protection
assurance.
We provide customers various levels of enterprise support offerings. Our enterprise security support
program offers annual maintenance support contracts, including content, upgrades, and technical support. Our
standard technical support includes: self-service options delivered by telephone or electronically during the
contracted-for hours, immediate patches for severe problems, periodic software updates, and access to our
technical knowledge base and frequently asked questions.
Customers
In fiscal 2014, 2013 and 2012, there were no customers that accounted for more than 10% of our total net
revenue.
Acquisitions
Our strategy will be complemented by business combinations that fit strategically and meet specific
profitability hurdles. Our acquisitions are designed to enhance the features and functionality of our existing products
and extend our product leadership in core markets. We consider time-to-market, synergies with existing products,
and potential market share gains when evaluating the economics of acquisitions of technologies, product lines, or
companies. We may acquire or dispose of other technologies, products, and companies in the future.
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