Symantec 2014 Annual Report Download - page 94

Defects, disruptions or risks related to the provision of our SaaS offerings could impair our ability to deliver
our services and could expose us to liability, damage our brand and reputation or otherwise negatively impact
our business.
Our SaaS offerings may contain errors or defects that users identify after they begin using them that could result
in unanticipated service interruptions, which could harm our reputation and our business. Since our customers
use our SaaS offerings for mission-critical protection from threats to electronic information, endpoint devices,
and computer networks, any errors, defects, disruptions in service or other performance problems with our SaaS
offerings could significantly harm our reputation and may damage our customers’ businesses. If that occurs,
customers could elect not to renew, or delay or withhold payment to us, we could lose future sales or customers
may make warranty or other claims against us, which could result in an increase in our provision for doubtful
accounts, an increase in collection cycles for accounts receivable or the expense and risk of litigation.
We currently serve our SaaS-based customers from hosting facilities located across the globe. Damage to, or
failure of, any significant element of these hosting facilities could result in interruptions in our service, which
could harm our customers and expose us to liability. Interruptions or failures in our service delivery could cause
customers to terminate their subscriptions with us, could adversely affect our renewal rates, and could harm our
ability to attract new customers. Our business would also be harmed if our customers believe that our SaaS
offerings are unreliable.
Our SaaS offerings also involve the storage and transmission of large amounts of our customers’ proprietary
information, including sensitive and personally identifiable information. Breaches of our security measures or the
accidental loss, inadvertent disclosure or unapproved dissemination of proprietary information or sensitive or
confidential data about us or our customers, including the potential loss or disclosure of such information or data
as a result of fraud or other forms of deception, could expose us, our customers or the individuals affected to a
risk of loss or misuse of this information, result in litigation and potential liability for us, damage our brand and
reputation or otherwise negatively impact our business. Despite our precautions and significant ongoing
investments to protect against such breaches, our security measures could be breached at any time and could
result in unauthorized third parties obtaining access to our, or our customers’ data. Any actual or perceived
security vulnerabilities in our SaaS offerings could reduce sales, and constrain consumer and business customer
adoption of our SaaS offering. In addition, the cost and operational consequences of implementing further
security measures could be significant.
If we fail to manage our sales and distribution channels effectively or if our partners choose not to market and
sell our products to their customers, our operating results could be adversely affected.
We sell our products to customers around the world through multi-tiered sales and distribution networks. Sales
through these different channels involve distinct risks, including the following:
Direct Sales. A significant portion of our revenues from enterprise products is derived from sales by our direct
sales force to end-users. Special risks associated with direct sales include:
• Longer sales cycles associated with direct sales efforts
• Difficulty in hiring, retaining, and motivating our direct sales force, particularly through periods of
transition in our organization
• Substantial amounts of training for sales representatives to become productive in selling our products
and services, including regular updates to cover new and revised products, and associated delays and
difficulties in recognizing the expected benefits of investments in new products and updates
15