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Vinup, too, said he's seeing more clients looking to bolster their endpoint security protection than at the network layer, though that doesn't necessarily mean network security is on its way out. He said locking down client devices is creating new opportunities.
"I don't see a lack of customers not wanting to focus on their firewall and gateway devices," he said.
But Abrams said network security isn't exactly dead. Instead, it's forcing solution providers to take a more end-to-end look at security with a heavier focus on the endpoint than in the past.
"It's making us focus more on security from a holistic standpoint," he said, adding that off network policy management has become important.
"It's certainly not time to rip out the firewall," said Spencer Ferguson, president and founder of Wasatch Software, a Salt Lake City-based solution provider. "Network security isn't dead yet. It's changing."
Like Ferguson, Sophos' Lyne cautioned that he's not advocating ripping out firewalls today, but said endpoint-based security presents a more affordable security option at a time when most business is conducted via endpoints like smartphones, notebooks and tablets and more business is happening in the cloud.
For solution providers, that opens the door to add more value in helping customers build out policies and in delivering services.
"Partners get much stronger engagements in adding value continually," Lyne said. "It changes the way they deliver protection."
Ferguson said a lot of network security tasks are being moved into the cloud, creating a limitless network perimeter and creating the need to "build a wall around each endpoint." Ferguson said the change is slow, but it is altering the course of security.
"It used to be just build a wall around the network and make sure that everything coming in is ok," he said. "But mobile users need just as much protection as the corporate network."
Andy Leung, vice president at ES Williams, a Calgary-based solution provider, agreed that security is not a one or the other play, but instead should take components from both the endpoint and the network side.
"Our customers are telling us they really value the full solution," Leung said. "You can't just focus on the endpoint. You have to look at the whole system."
The need for a full system security set was echoed by Alex Thurber, senior vice president of worldwide channels, commercial and SMB for McAfee. Thurber said that along with growing interest in its endpoint security play and McAfee's latest foray into securing embedded devices, McAfee's networks security business is still brisk.
"Endpoints have to be locked down, but we continue to see a lot of interest in e-mail and Web security at the gateway...I think there continues to be a role for multi-layer defense."
Next: The Death Of Network Security Is A 'Fallacy'
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