Symantec has done away with financial requirements for service provider partners that are looking to join the company's ExSP Licensing Program.

The program, which has been available for ISPs and telecommunication companies since 2006, is now open to all companies. ExSP Service providers are authorized to sell Symantec products as a hosted service to customers. Service providers may pay a monthly subscription for the software instead of paying for it upfront.

Symantec Pacific small business and distribution director Steve Martin said that the minimum quarterly requirement was "quite significant".

"We've made the decision to remove the entry barriers, making it more accessible for any type of service provider regardless of their size to get into the program and most importantly build out services on Symantec technologies," Martin said.

The company will also give incentives to service partners as their volume of business increases. Symantec may reduce licensing costs and allow partners to retain ownership of the licenses.

"This is about Symantec providing our technologies to other partners who are providing their own services," Martin said.

He adds that, under the program, partners can provide "pretty simple technology" such as managed backup and anti-spam to complex tasks such as compliance and disaster recovery.