Now that we all have an assortment of iPhones, Droids, tablet devices, and Windows devices, lots of industry folks believe that mobile security is the next hot market. There are a number of players already in this market from pure plays like Good Security and Mobile Active Defense. Traditional endpoint security vendors like McAfee see this as an extension of its antivirus business. Symantec is in the same boat with antivirus as well as encryption software from PGP. Networking vendors also see up-side in the mobile device security market. Cisco has AnyConnect and ScanSafe while Juniper Networks wants to combine its Pulse client with its recent acquisition of SMobile.
These vendors come at mobile security from many different angles with different security functionality in different places–some on the device and some on the network. Will this confuse the market? No. Enterprises are actually looking for a wide range of mobile device security functionality. According to an ESG Research survey of 174 security professionals working at enterprise (i.e., more than 1,000 employees) organizations, the top three most important mobile device features are 1) device encryption, 2) device firewall, and 3) strong authentication. They also want things like DLP, VPN, and device locking.
Beyond security functionality, most enterprises also want an integrated platform for mobile device security and management. In other words, they want a single software package for device provisioning, configuration, reporting, etc. They also want a common set of features for all mobile devices rather than a potpourri of different features for iPhone, Windows 7, Droid, Palm, etc.
It appears then that the mobile device security market will include networking, security, and management vendors along with device manufacturers and carriers as well. Personally, I think mobile device security will have a network architecture look to it, with technology safeguards built into devices, the enterprise, and the cloud. If this happens, integration will be critical for all leading products.
Tags: Android, AnyConnect, Cisco, Droid, Good Security, iPhone, Juniper Networks, McAfee, Mobile Active Defenses, Palm, PGP, ScanSafe, SMobile, Symantec, Windows 7, Windows 7 Phone Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
It’s been a few days since Intel‘s surprising McAfee acquisition announcement. This weekend, I took time to read what others were saying about the merger and there seems to be a lot of posturing and confusion out there. Here is a short list of some of the misconceptions:
Many of the smartest financial and industry analysts can’t make heads or tails out of this deal and I can understand their confusion. There really are no obvious synergies between the two technologies. Nevertheless, I believe that the security market is in transition where new products will need a whole new level of scale, intelligence, integration, and enterprise-class sophistication. The “new” security market will start abruptly and grow to over $1 billion extremely quickly. Intel wants a piece of this transition as well as portfolio diversification. It’s that simple.
Tags: Good Technology, Intel, Juniper, McAfee, Microsoft, Mobile Active Defense, SafeBoot, SMobile, vPro Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Cisco Systems has purchased dozens of companies in its history, so most deals receive relatively little attention. There are exceptions, however. When Cisco acquired companies like Scientific-Atlanta (2005), WebEx Communications (2007), and Jabber, Inc. (2008), it signaled a change. Cisco was broadening its strategic focus and viewing the network as a platform rather than a series of boxes. Fast forward to the present and Cisco continues to acquires companies and technologies that build on top of its network platform and customer base.
In my humble opinion, Juniper Networks made a similar strategic transition last week when it acquired SMobile, a privately-held software company specializing in smartphone and tablet security.
Allow me to explain: like Cisco in 2005, Juniper always thought of itself as a networking hardware vendor. This changed in late 2009, when Juniper announced several products and programs centered around its core operating system, JUNOS. The goal? Make JUNOS a development platform for network-based functionality.
The SMobile acquisition demonstrates that Juniper is willing to put its money where its mouth is and build the value of JUNOS through acquisitions, not just internal development projects. In announcing the deal, Juniper highlighted its plans to integrate SMobile security with its JUNOS Pulse endpoint software for network connectivity and acceleration.
The story gets better. The JUNOS Pulse/SMobile client will gain added functionality when combined with the other elements of the Juniper platform built into carrier-class networking and high-end security systems. Who is using all of the elements of the platform? Wireless carriers who are already big Juniper customers. Juniper figures that it can help these carriers create lucrative and profitable services built on top of JUNOS. Mobile device network access, security, and high performance seem like a great place to start.
Unlike Cisco, Juniper hasn’t strayed too far from its comfort zone by acquiring companies focused on consumer electronics or cloud computing applications. Good idea–Juniper is pretty insular and engineering-focused, so it needs to proceed slowly and really leverage its technical strengths, install base, and the JUNOS software development mission.
I believe that Juniper does have a great opportunity with JUNOS and I like the company’s strategy and the SMobile acquisition. But unless you follow Juniper pretty closely, you probably still think of it as a network hardware company and you’ve most likely never even heard of JUNOS. In a similar situation, Cisco would create a flurry of marketing campaigns, events, programs, and business development programs. Juniper isn’t Cisco, but it needs to take a page out of the John Chambers playbook to make SMobile, JUNOS, and its overall software strategy a success.
For those interested in more information, I’ve also written a brief on the acquisition, which can be found here.
Tags: Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, SMobile Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
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