Direct Agents, a New York city-based advertising agency with 40 employees, is in a small majority of SMBs that have implemented an effective security system. An April 2009 Symantec survey on the storage and security in small and mid-sized businesses found that while SMBs are familiar with cyber risks and have clearly defined goals for security and storage, a surprisingly high number (33%) have yet to take even the most basic steps towards protecting their businesses, such as implementing antivirus or backing up their data. As an advertising agency focused on interactive, online media, Direct Agents employees spend their workdays visiting websites and reading email that other companies might consider suspect. For that reason, protection at Direct Agents needs to occur at each individual computer. Because the company is growing rapidly, Direct Agents also needs to manage that protection environment simply and easily. While our survey found that a majority of SMBs cited staffing and budget are the main barriers to implementing necessary security measures, Direct Agents has proven technology can actually save both time and money without sacrificing security. The agency recently implemented Symantec Endpoint Protection to centrally manage the protection of individual endpoints (employee desktops and laptops). Results include: • time savings of up to 20 hours per week • A 40 percent reduction in licensing costs • $1,500 in monthly savings for outside IT support As SMBs, and for that matter enterprises, struggle to balance improving their security postures without increasing their IT budgets, Direct Agents Inc is a model of how to do just that.