Radware Eyeballs Security Vendors

Roy Zisapel, Radware's president and CEO, said Monday that acquiring a security vendor would be a likely proposition for the Mahwah, N.J.-based application switching vendor beginning in late 2005.

Adding security tools would strengthen the third leg of Radware's platform, which seeks to deliver "availability, performance and security" for applications traveling across the network, said Zisapel, who made his comments at a gathering of media and financial analysts in New York.

A security acquisition also would fortify Radware's offensive against competitors such as Nortel Networks, Zisapel said, adding that he thinks Nortel is weakened and may be sold at some point. Few Wall Street analysts on hand at the event disagreed with his assessment of Nortel.

The current field of security vendors is overvalued because security technology has become a hot topic, Zisapel said. The security market is flush with startups and, as a result, ripe for consolidation, he noted.

The addition of security technology would mark an extension of Radware's application-switching solutions, which company executives said may be misunderstood because of their complexity.

Zisapel, for one, disputed the perception that Radware is merely a load-balancing vendor. "We are not a load-balancing company. What we are doing is far more complex," he said.

Plans call for the company to roll out a new channel program shortly. About 90 percent of Radware's revenue is generated through indirect sales, according to Zisapel. But not all partners may have a firm grasp of the company's technology. Rashmi Malhotra, Radware's vice president of marketing, said U.S. VARs are less proficient in dealing with Radware products than their counterparts in Europe.

Radware on Monday raised its guidance for the third quarter based on preliminary results. The vendor projects revenue in the quarter to reach a record $17.6 million.