Nemertes Impact Analysis:

Nearly a year after announcing plans for virtualization security, IBM (NYSE:IBM) is finally releasing a suite of security products that integrate with VMware (NYSE:VMW) vSphere 4.0. Virtual Security Server for vSphere is a virtual appliance using VMware’s VMsafe API.

The main driver for VirtSec is meeting compliance and defense-in-depth requirements. Still, less than 10% of organizations are currently evaluating or deploying VirtSec though about 56% are planning to evaluate or use by 2011. IBM’s release of VirtSec adds credibility to the marketplace.

Impacts::

Enterprises: The market is maturing rapidly requiring close attention to vendor support of compliance and defense-in-depth requirements.

Vendors: This puts competitive pressure on direct security rivals McAfee (NYSE:MFE) and Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC).

Investors: This announcement raises visibility of all VirtSec players, including: Stonesoft (OMX: SFT1V), Trend Micro (OTC:TMICY) and privately held, Altor, Apani, Catbird, HyTrust, NetIQ, Reflex, Shavlik and Tripwire.

Ted Ritter, Senior Research Analyst

Sign Up To Receive Nemertes Impact Analysis By E-mail

Follow Nemertes Research on Twitter