State of Technology: Cisco, Symantec Push Security-Innovation Envelope

When it comes to security innovation, vendors that address today's threats and tomorrow's management needs are top-notch in the eyes of partners. When asked in VARBusiness' quarterly State of Technology Innovation survey, solution providers gave IT powerhouses Cisco and Symantec the highest ratings for security innovation, mostly on their ability to deliver technology that addresses today's key threats.

Both vendors are security-market leaders, each with products that protect IT infrastructures from perimeter to host. Cisco's continued development of "self-protecting" networks and Symantec's move toward endpoint security match market desire for technology that secures networks and remote connectivity.

RSA Security, a leader in identity management and cryptography, ranked third in innovation. While solution providers say threat management and network-based security are the top drivers this year, they expect identity management to play a bigger role in near-future purchasing decisions among small and midsize businesses. (It's already the chief security concern among enterprises.) And while Microsoft doesn't support RSA tokens in Windows Vista, RSA's identity-management software and devices are considered market leaders.

SonicWall, too, placed high on the innovative technology list--a little surprising given that CEO Matthew Medeiros says the company relishes the position of follower, not innovator. Apparently, business strategy and channel execution can be innovative too.

Rounding out the top five is VeriSign, which continues to be a market leader in managed-security services. While the vendor's channel presence is minimal, it has found the formula for delivering public key infrastructure as a service, transparently, which is key among enterprises.

Microsoft, Trend Micro and McAfee earned respectable innovation ratings, as each continues to expand the breadth and quality of its security products. While the latter two bank their future on network-based intrusion prevention, Microsoft pushes security deeper into the Windows OS and across its software packages.

Despite investments in new technologies, perennial security leaders Check Point, Juniper Networks, Sun Microsystems, Internet Security Systems and IBM/Tivoli are lagging behind their peers as far as the channel is concerned. A few potential reasons: channel-program problems, poorly integrated products, less-than-stellar technology delivery and an overwhelming portfolio of products. In some cases, it may simply be a failure to educate partners on the full capabilities of their offerings. --Lawrence M. Walsh