Here is some interesting data that came out of the 2011 IT Spending Intentions report from ESG Research. In a global survey of 611 IT professionals from mid-market (i.e., 100-1000 employees) and enterprise (i.e., more than 1,000 employees) organizations, 46% of all firms reported they will increase investment in networking products and services in 2011 while 58% said they will increase investment in security products and services this year.
What I found especially intriguing is that both networking and security professionals claim that their organizations will make their most significant investments in network security over the next 12-18 months. In other words, networking AND security folks believe that network security is their highest priority. This emphasis on network security also came out with regard to infrastructure management. When IT professionals were asked which areas of infrastructure management their organizations would make the most significant investments in, the top two responses were security management (31%) and network management (29%).
What does this data mean? It’s easy to dismiss firewalls, IDS/IPS and SIEM software as mature legacy technologies. The ESG data indicates just the opposite–these venerable safeguards are going through a metamorphosis. Why? Perhaps data center consolidation and rich-media applications are driving new scaling needs. It may be that the threat landscape demands new types of safeguards. It is possible that existing network security and management tools have simply grown long in the tooth. I believe that all of these factors are driving network security upgrades and new requirements.
From an industry perspective, there is a lot of opportunity here. Some possible winners include:
Beyond these mainstream players, there is plenty of business for others like Blue Coat, Citrix, F5 Networks, and Riverbed.
Tags: application firewall, ArcSight, AXA, Blue Coat, Borderless Networks, Check Point Software, Cisco, Citrix, Crossbeam Systems, F5, Firewall, Gateway, HP, IDS, IPS, Juniper Networks, Log Logic, LogRhythm, MARS, McAfee, NetWitness, network security, Nitro Security, Palo Alto Networks, perimeter security, Q1 Labs, Riverbed, Security, Sidewinder, Sourcefire, TippingPoint, TrustSec Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Earlier today, IBM announced its intention to acquire OpenPages, a privately-held software company focused on identifying and managing risk and compliance.
There is obvious value in this deal based upon market interest in risk management alone. In the past ten years we’ve seen the subprime mortgage securities collapse, a rise in global terrorism, and explosive growth in cybercrime. Certainly businesses need better risk management tools to cope with these kinds of events.
With OpenPages, IBM gets to throw its hat further into the risk management ring, but that’s not all. OpenPages provides IBM with strong synergies around other IBM business opportunities like:
Clearly the OpenPages wasn’t as newsworthy as HP buying ArcSight or Intel buying McAfee, but it certainly aligns with IBM’s strategy, complements existing products and services, and gives IBM sales reps another solution to sell to customers.
Tags: ArcSight, Consul, HP, IBM, Intel, IT Risk Management, McAfee, OpenPages, Risk Management Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
The waiting and guessing games are over; today, HP announced its intent to buy security management software leader ArcSight for $1.5 billion. I didn’t think HP would pull the trigger on another billion+ dollar acquisition before hiring a new CEO, but obviously I was wrong.
ArcSight is a true enterprise software company. As I recall, many of the early ArcSight management team members actually came from HP OpenView. With this model in mind, ArcSight went beyond technology and invested early in top field engineers, security experts, and sales people. This vaulted the company to a leadership position and it never looked back.
For HP, ArcSight fits with its overall focus on IT operations software solutions for Business Technology Optimization. In the future, security information will be one of many inputs that helps CIOs improve IT management and responsiveness. It won’t happen overnight, but think of all sources of IT management data (i.e., log data, SNMP, network flow data, configuration data, etc.) available for query, analysis, and reporting in a common repository. This is what HP has in mind over the long haul.
In the meantime, HP should get plenty of ArcSight bang-for-the-buck over the next 12-24 months by:
In spite of its security services and thought leadership, HP’s name has been notably absent from IT security leadership discussions in the past. ArcSight should change that.
A few other quick thoughts:
Tags: ArcSight, Check Point, CNCI, F5, FISMA, HP, Oracle, Riverbed Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
An industry friend just sent me a story from the Wall Street Journal proclaiming that security management leader ArcSight will be acquired within the next week. The story goes on to say that the likely buyers include Oracle, HP, , IBM, and CA.
Hmm. First of all, anyone familiar with ArcSight was sure this was coming. The company is a leader in a growing market segment, has a great Federal business, and is one of few real enterprise players. It is interesting to me that the Wall Street Journal is spreading rumors but that’s another story.
Let me weigh in by handicapping the field:
Given the Intel deal, McAfee is likely out of the running. I’ve heard through the grapevine that McAfee made several attempts at ArcSight but the price tag was just too big. Symantec, like IBM and CA, has also developed security management products that haven’t taken off in the market. If Enrique Salem is up for another big acquisition, ArcSight would be a great fit.
Finally, wherever ArcSight ends up, there are plenty of other innovative security management companies that may quickly follow. Feisty Q1 Labs would be a natural for Juniper. Brainy Nitro Security could be a fit for Cisco or CA. LogRhythm could be a good addition for HP, Check Point, Websense, etc.
ArcSight deserves what it gets as it really guided the security market moving forward. Its fate will greatly influence the enterprise security market moving forward.
Tags: ArcSight, CA, EMC, HP, IBM, Juniper Networks, LogRhythm, McAfee, Nitro Security, Oracle, Q1 Labs, Symantec, Wall Street Journal, WSJ Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Before the bell rang on Wall Street, Intel shocked the army of Latte sipping financial wonks by announcing its intentions to buy security leader McAfee. The deal is valued at $7.7 billion or $48 per share, about a 60% premium on the stock price.
A few financial analysts who cover Intel say that this is about Intel’s mobile device aspirations. Maybe, but McAfee just got into the mobile device security market and my guess is that this business accounts for $5 million in revenue or less.
Sorry Wall Street but that ain’t it at all. I believe that Intel sees the same thing I see. The security market is wildly fragmented with vendors producing tactical point products for its customers. These point products can no longer address the environment of sophisticated and massive threats. In the very near future, enterprise and service provider security technologies must deliver unprecedented levels of scalability, manageability and integration.
Guess what? In today’s market there isn’t a single vendor who can deliver a security product suite anywhere near what’s needed in the market. Get it Wall Street? There is massive emotional demand but no supply. Here’s the kicker — without significant improvements in security, this whole Internet party hosted by companies like , eBay, , , etc. could get really, really ugly soon.
To be fair, McAfee can’t deliver the level of scale, manageability and integration that the market demands but it’s as close as any other vendor. Combine this with Intel hardware, money, and brainpower and you’ve gotten something.
I believe Intel sees a market opportunity, not a product opportunity. Yes, there is plenty of room to integrate McAfee with mobile phones, microprocessors, and NSPs but this is a footnote to the story.
A few other observations:
Tags: ArcSight, Check Point, Fortinet, IBM, Intel, LogRhythm, McAfee, Nitro Security, RedSeal, RSA, Sourcefire, Symantec Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Log management technologies have become a staple for regulatory compliance and security reporting. That said, most log management systems provide little more than triggers and alerts when something happens. What about security forensics? Yes, all the information is there but getting to it is a lot like the early days of the World Wide Web when you found information by following hyperlinks. Even a senior security analyst can wade through useless haystacks of security logs for days before discovering valuable needles.
So what’s needed? The next generation of log management featuring:
Leading log management vendors like ArcSight, LogRhythm, Q1 Labs, and others realize that log management isn’t just about collecting and storing esoteric IT data, it is about providing organizations with the right data and tools to make this data actionable.
It’s time for users and other vendors to realize that the next generation of log management isn’t a visionary concept, it is an absolute requirement.
Tags: ArcSight, log management, LogRhythm, Q1 Labs Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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