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 [1] (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 [2]. 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
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Links:
[1] http://www.serverwatch.com/news/article.php/3848476/IBM-Releases-Virtual-Server-Security-App.htm
[2] http://www.nemertes.com//research/key_trends
[3] http://www.nemertes.com/research_notes_0
[4] http://twitter.com/nemertes