Security Stays Strong

DATA LOSS PREVENTION
It's tough for a week to go by without reading a few news headlines about companies losing sensitive data. Whether it's a disgruntled worker stealing digital files or an employee leaving a laptop loaded with customer records in the back seat of a car, there are many ways businesses can get burned by data loss.

So it's no surprise that data loss prevention (DLP) is fast becoming one of the security industry's hottest technologies. Partners responding to Everything Channel's 2008 State of Technology: Security survey selected data loss as the No. 1 security threat today and the No. 2 threat over the next 12 to 18 months. More than two-thirds said they sell DLP products.

For many companies, the fear of making news headlines is reason enough to invest in DLP technologies, such as data recovery and backup, encryption, database security and storage security. But compliance and the threat of shareholder litigation are just as powerful, said Chris Labatt-Simon, president and CEO of D&D Consulting, a solution provider in Albany, N.Y.

DLP is one of D&D's fastest-growing businesses, and the solution provider has created several best-practice solutions for customers to quickly deploy the technology, Labatt-Simon said.

DLP solutions bring VARs healthy product and services revenue. Nearly 30 percent of surveyed VARs expect DLP to be the most profitable technology over the next year, second only to managed security services, and 32 percent think DLP will generate the fastest-growing sales of any technology over the same period.

According to Ryan English, vice president of products and services for Vigilar Inc., an Atlanta-based security solution provider, DLP sales are quite profitable, with deals typically starting at $250,000. "DLP is definitely a very young market, and there's still a ton of opportunity there," he said.

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