An interesting paper was released by Gartner Inc. recently. The world's leading information technology research and advisory company shared with GET, LLC and other Cisco Business Partners a report that stated that Malware detection and cloud services are two areas of continuing disparity among Secure Web Gateway vendors and analyzed the key differences in the capabilities and other key functions of this growing industry
The Stamford, Connecticut-based tech advisors contend that Secure Web gateways (SWGs) utilize URL filtering, malware detection and application control technology to protect organizations and enforce Internet policy compliance. SWGs are delivered as on-premises appliances (hardware and virtual) or cloud-based services.
They estimate that the combined SWG revenue of the Cloud companies in 2012 was $1.18 billion (which includes on-premises and cloud-based offerings). Revenue from solutions that lack full SWG functionality has been excluded (for example, URL filtering only or proxies sold without anti-malware protection). Gartner says the market grew approximately 15% over 2011- anticipating that the market will grow 13% to 15% in 2013.
Eight of the 13 vendors in their analysis now offer a multitenant cloud service. However, the market is still dominated by on-premises solutions (86% share, based on revenue), with SWG as a service representing the remainder of the market (14%). Gartner's market share and growth rate estimate of the broader market for SWG proxy and URL filtering software can be found in "Market Share: Security Software, Worldwide, 2012." The market is segmented between large enterprises and small or midsize businesses (SMBs). SMB solutions are designed for ease of use, cost-effectiveness and basic security protection. Large enterprise solutions protect against more-advanced threats, including the capability to detect targeted attacks.
Vendors are increasingly integrating content-aware data loss prevention (DLP) to monitor sensitive data. Cloud services are being driven by the need to protect mobile devices and secure remote-office connections.
Barracuda Networks, Blue Coat Systems, ContentKeeper Technologies, McAfee, Phantom Technologies-iboss Security, Sangfor, Sophos, Symantec, Trend Micro, Trustware, Websense, Zscaler, and our friends at Cisco Systems make up the field in this growing market.
There are many pluses and minuses that each may offer-but one thing is for certain is that each provide a level of Malware protection and Cloud Services that must fit your respective business needs.
Gartner says that the market for SWG functionality will remain broad through at least 2016 and that "barriers to entry are low since vendors can readily license a URL database and an antivirus engine, package them with basic reporting and some application control, and market the solution as an SWG. These solutions will continue to put pricing pressure on the SMB market, but larger enterprises should avoid the temptation to go with a low-cost provider. Vendors that can demonstrate a strong track record of malware research and success in malware prevention will be the ones that succeed in the large enterprise market."
Our advice? Ensure that you can measure these respective companies ability to execute and completeness of vision in executing a SWG that fits your needs.
GET, LLC is a proud Cisco Registered Partner providing the latest Cisco products and services direct to businesses and organizations. For more on the benefits that our Partnership can bring to you and your respective business contact us at 671-483-0789 or at www.get-guam.com.