Top 10 Network Security Brands In Q1 2015

Disruption In The Network Security Market

In the first quarter of 2015, the network security market saw a shuffle as up-and-coming vendors and industry heavyweights duked it out for market share. While companies such as Cisco held strong near the top, companies such as Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet continued to make big year-over-year gains in market share to edge out the competition, according to data from Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD Group, which compiles data in its DistributorTrack sales database from leading distributors in the U.S. Global Technology Distribution Council.

Take a look at the 10 best network security brands, according to the NPD research.

10. ZyXEL

Coming in 10th place on the list of top-selling network security brands for the first quarter was ZyXEL, a Taiwan-based company focused on providing networking and DSL solutions to primarily ISVs and systems integrators. In the past few months, ZyXEL has made enhancements to its network security offerings around smart homes, firewalls and launched incentives for solution provider partners to upgrade security for SMB clients.

This quarter, ZyXEL held 1.6 percent of the market share for network security, a drop of 1.2 percentage points over the same quarter last year.

9. Barracuda Networks

Barracuda Networks came in ninth place this quarter, dropping 0.8 percentage points to 2.1 percent of the network security market.

In its most recent earnings report, the Campbell, Calif.-based company said it was seeing strong growth in billings and sales, up 17.2 percent and 19.6 percent, respectively. President and CEO B.J. Jenkins said the growth numbers reflected the "progress we have made in strengthening our position as a leading provider of security and storage solutions." In the past quarter, Barracuda launched a new worldwide partner program and extended partnerships with VMware, Microsoft Azure and more.

8. Check Point

Jumping ahead two spots on the list from the same quarter last year, Check Point grew 0.3 percentage points in market share to grab 2.3 percent of the network security market.

The Israel-based company has already snapped up two startup acquisitions this year. In February, Check Point acquired Hyperwise for advanced threat protection capabilities. Just two months later, the company also acquired Lacoon Mobile Security as it continues to expand its network security roots into the mobile space. Both acquisitions expand the company's capabilities against some of its biggest competitors, including Palo Alto Networks.

7. Netgear

Coming in seventh place this quarter for network security, San Jose, Calif.-based Netgear held 5.6 percent of the market. That percentage is down 2 percentage points from the same period last year, and down two rankings as competitors gained market share against it. The company also saw dropping overall revenue and earnings in its first-quarter earnings report, released on April 23, where sales were down 11.5 percent to $309.2 million and profits were down 44.4 percent to $8 million.

6. Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks saw the second biggest jump in market share percentage points out of all of the network security vendors, leaping up 4.8 percentage points to hold 7.6 percent of the market. Over the past few months, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has made partnerships and product enhancements around mobile security, endpoint protection, new data center hardware, and more. While IDC said in December that this push had propelled Palo Alto past Fortinet to take third place in network security, the NPD numbers put the vendor in sixth place.

5. WatchGuard Technologies

Taking the fifth spot in network security was WatchGuard Technologies, which held 7.9 percent of the market in the first quarter of 2015. That represents a jump of 1.3 percentage points over the same quarter the year before.

In April, the company named Prakash Panjwani as CEO, filling a vacancy left by the resignation of former CEO Joe Wang the year before. His appointment will be key to "keep the momentum going" after a year of record growth for the vendor, interim CEO Mike Kohlsdorf said at the time.

4. Juniper Networks

Despite the biggest drop in market share percentage points in the top 10, Juniper Networks managed to hold onto a top spot on the list with 9.1 percent of the market for network security solutions. That represents a 3.7 percentage point drop for the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based vendor from the 12.8 percent of market share and third-place spot it held the same quarter in 2014. Part of that drop might be attributed to the company's sale of its mobile security business last July for $250 million to Siris Capital. Since then, the company has launched new security solutions, including AppSecure 2.0 for its virtual firewall vSRX and Express Path.

3. Fortinet

Fortinet is climbing the ranks in network security, rising to third place in the first quarter of 2015, a rank higher than it was in the same quarter last year. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company held 15.3 percent of the market share for network security in the first quarter, up 5.5 percent year-over-year. That represents the largest year-over-year jump by any company in the top 10.

2. Dell SonicWall

Just nearly a percentage point behind the top spot, Dell SonicWall landed in second place for network security market share with 21.7 percent. That share is down 2.4 percentage points year-over-year, the NPD numbers found. In recent months, SonicWall has been rolling out partnerships and innovations around analytics, endpoint security and more. Most recently, the company announced an update to its SonicWall TZ series firewall to improve speed.

1. Cisco Systems

Finally, coming in first place was Cisco, which held 22.6 percent of the market share for the first quarter. The networking vendor managed to hold onto the top spot despite dropping 0.3 percentage points year-over-year. Cisco seemed confident this quarter that that lead would continue going forward, launching a new firewall line, malware protection and incident-response services to take on Palo Alto Networks (which rose to number six on NPD's ranking).