ProCurve Takes Firewall, IPS With New Module
ProCurve said it's using the "same recipe" as it uses with its networking gear to cut the costs and complexity in the security space with the new HP ProCurve Threat Management Services Module, which falls into its ProActive Defense security portfolio.
Mauricio Sanchez, ProCurve chief security architect, said the module provides firewall, VPN and IPS functionality, eliminating the need for a separate appliance by integrating into ProCurve 8212 and 5400 Series switches.
"Before, the choices were either appliances or single-function modules," Sanchez said, adding that ProCurve is collapsing all three core security functions into one aggressively priced module. That approach, he said, will put ProCurve in a stronger position against rivals Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks.
"Customers have been asking for an alternative," he said. "We're taking this advanced functionality to the mainstream."
Sanchez said the module offers 3 Gbps of firewall throughput, 1.5 Gbps of IPS and 300 Mb of VPN functionality. It protects networks, servers and data in transit through the firewall, IPS and VPN capabilities. It also integrates into ProCurve's existing wireless IPS solutions.
For ProCurve's channel, the new module begins a new story to tell. Now, partners can offer their customers high-margin security solutions ingrained in the network, painting a better ROI story than purchasing separate appliances.
"It's a new tool in the tool chest," Sanchez said. "What we're doing here is entering a new market and we're doing it in a disruptive manner."
Jennifer Jabbusch, CISO and network security specialist at Carolina Advanced Digital, a Siler City, N.C.-based solution provider, said the ProCurve Threat Management Services Module offers a more affordable way to bake security into the network.
"It's an opportunity to put a layer of security inside of the network," she said, adding that other methods for doing that, such as NAC, can be costly and complicated. "A lot of people aren't doing the firewall on the inside of the network."
In the past, Jabbusch said, that level of network integration was cost-prohibitive, requiring a costly IPS sensor system.
"The best we could do until now is put sensors in place, which was more reactive," she said. "Now we can be proactive."
From a competitive perspective, Jabbusch said it better positions ProCurve, which made waves with its switches, bulked up its wireless presence with the acquisition of Colubris and now ups the ante with new security offerings.
"We had these little pieces of things," she said. "This Threat Management Services Module gives us another platform. It's basically a fundamental technology that we know works and can integrate into other things."
And Sanchez said ProCurve won't stop with the new module. While he couldn't reveal ProCurve's future security plans, he said cracking into the firewall, VPN and IPS spaces is just "the first step of a multistep process" that was more than two years in the making.
Along with the new security module, ProCurve launched a new version of the HP ProCurve Manager Plus product suite, a central management platform to prevent security breaches on both wired and wireless networks. Manager Plus 3.0 lets users map, configure and monitor networks, offering a single view of network-wide management controls while also enabling the ability to add, restrict and customize network management access.
The Manager Plus 3.0 suite includes a host of capabilities, such as ProCurve Mobility Manager 3.0, which enables planning, deployment, management and reporting on the WLAN while predicting frequency coverage and monitoring the wireless infrastructure and rogue access points. It also offers Network Immunity Manager 3.0, which offers a set of tools to manage internal network threat detection and response. Manager Plus also features Identity Driven Manager 3.0, which enables the dynamic provisioning of network access to set policies around how users and devices connect to the network.
According to ProCurve, the Threat Management Services zl Module with firewall and VPN lists for $16,999. The module with a one-year IPS subscription service bundle is $19,599. IPS subscriptions and renewals run $9,399 for three years. For ProCurve Manager solutions, Manager Plus 3.0 is $1,499 for a 50-device upgrade; ProCurve Mobility Manager 3.0 software is $1,999 for a 50-device license; Network Immunity Manager 2.0 is $8,699 with a 50-device base license; and Identity Driven Manager 3.0 is $5,499 for a 500-user license. All gear will be available May 1.