Microsoft, Cisco To Share Network Security Technologies
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The goal is a &quot;single, coordinated solution&quot; that enables network administrators to control both Windows installations and Cisco network architecture, the two tech giants said.
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Hewlett-Packard Co. and Cisco Systems Inc. are teaming to provide large customers with combined network maintenance and support services around the globe.
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RSA and Cisco are jointly developing technology to embed security technology in multiple storage media, though some users still prefer to use security appliances.
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Cisco Systems and Fujitsu will partner to develop high-end routers and switches for use in advanced IP networks. Initally, Fujitsu will offer co-branded products running Cisco&#39;s IOS-XR operating
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(InfoWorld) - Cisco executives speaking at the ongoing Security Standard Conference claim that the networking giant hasn't sapped innovation in the security companies it has acquired in its efforts to add to its own expanse of IT systems-defense products, while some customers clearly feel otherwise. Taking the stage at the conference in Chicago on Monday to participate in a panel on Cisco's vision for warding off emerging threats and spam, the company's top security executives, and former IronPort Chief Executive Scott Weiss, defended the firm's growth-via-acquisition strategy. Cisco finalized its $830 million buyout of IronPort in June -- only the latest in a long string of such security acquisitions. The company has already begun blending the messaging and malware filtering gateway specialist's technologies into its firewalls, which the executives claim has created a new capability to provide customers with "wide packet inspection," an approach that adds reputation-based anti-attack capabilities to the systems' existing virus and spam detection abilities. Such integration work illustrates the fact that Cisco is improving the ability of its customers to defend their networks from attack and that the firm is serious about innovation and not just attempting to grow its revenues or boost sales of its networking gear by snapping-up other security vendors, Weiss told the assembled audience. Asked by a conference attendee whether major platform providers like Cisco, Microsoft, and IBM will continue to swallow smaller security companies, along with industry giants like Symantec, and how that will impact the availability of the cutting-edge technologies often developed by independent vendors, Weiss said that more consolidation is likely inevitable. Yet he also acknowledged that some niche players will continue to do well on their own. "All the [venture capital] firms that are into small security companies will likely make out like bandits, and there will be a scrum to get the good stuff," said Weiss, who is still heading up IronPort inside Cisco. "Bigger companies will have to decide whether to build, buy, or partner." Weiss highlighted Webroot, the anti-spyware software company that industry watchers have long tabbed for acquisition based on its specialized focus -- and which continues to defy those predictions and grow on its own -- as an example of the type of vendor that will be able to compete in a world where security is being driven further into other broadly-distributed IT platforms, such as Cisco's ubiquitous networking gear. "I think we'll continue to see new Webroots pop-up that can help deal with new threats," he said. "The issue for these companies is how broad is their platform and how to carve a significant portion of the infrastructure out; they have to ask themselves if their technology is broad enough to support a large, profitable company." Along with the benefits of melding together complimentary technologies, such as gateway filtering tools and firewalls, Weiss claims that customers are seeking integrated technologies from single vendors and increasingly looking for "one throat to choke" when selecting security tools. "Users of these technologies want products that talk to each other and have collaborative interfaces," he said. Customers worry about consolidation However, some existing Cisco customers claim that they are troubled by the continued pace of security industry consolidation. Even if Cisco can add many of the pieces that customers seek, it will likely not be able to provide technologies that are as innovative and effective as those made by independent vendors in some areas, said Waqas Akkawi, senior manager of IT security at Sirva, the moving giant that owns Allied Van Lines, Global Van Lines, and North American Van Lines, among other subsidiaries. Akkawi said that Cisco excels in some areas of security where it has experience, namely in network-based tools, but he noted that even some of those products, such as its IDS (intrusion detection systems) and IPS (intrusion prevention systems), also added via various acquisitions, don't measure up to those made by standalone providers. "Cisco is good at what they do naturally, as with firewalls, routers and switches, but they haven't done a good job on things like IPS and IDS where some other niche companies do a better job," said Akkawi. "In a lot of cases I think customers would be better off if these types of companies partnered instead of doing acquisitions or trying to build functionality into their existing products on their own. Sometimes a niche product that integrates well is going to be better than what these guys are talking about." Akkawi, who is a Cisco-certified IT pro, said that Sirva is constantly considering whether or not to go best-of-breed with independent vendors or buy into integrated security products like those being integrated by platform providers like Cisco's IronPort buyout. "These acquisitions will only work if a platform provider like Cisco can build the acquired technology into things they already do well. In some cases, these types of companies haven't been able to integrate everything they've bought, and we've seen some best-of-breed products go away," he said. "[Sirva] will likely continue to go fifty-fifty in terms of the integrated products we choose to buy, and the others we seek out to get true best-of-breed functionality." Many IT platform providers have moved aggressively in recent years to add security to their portfolios where it fits, as with EMC's buyout of authentication specialists RSA, along with IBM and HP's recent moves to add applications testing capabilities to their software development platforms via acquisition. The nature of the security industry is such that certain functions will be parceled into such widely-used technologies, while other newer tools will likely emerge from independents, said Mick Scully, vice president of product management at Cisco's Security Technology Group. Scully countered that despite any perception of cutting at innovation, Cisco is creating many new technology combinations that customers have responded well to, allowing its overall security business to crest $2 billion in revenues in the firm's fiscal 2006, representing a 25 percent annual growth rate in its overall security business. "There will always be a balance between best-of-breed and integrated security. The beauty of the market is that it is constantly changing at a rapid pace, and we will always see startups who address specific problems," Scully said. "But if you look at an acquisition like IronPort, we've left it almost entirely intact, run by the same team, even as we push its technologies into other products." Scully also highlighted the fact that Cisco has proven its chops as a security innovator, such as in creating the burgeoning market for NAC device authentication systems. He said that Cisco itself views its acquisitions as fifty-fifty propositions, looking for as many opportunities to continue to innovate the technologies its buys as it seeks opportunities to fold them into its other product lines. "It's an interesting dichotomy, I sort of see what these customers are saying, but we also believe that our standalone products, such as our NAC appliances, are already best-of-breed," Scully said. "As niche security markets become mature, merchant markets, we are going to look to get into those markets where we fit in; but we're also doing a lot of organic product development on our own, and we feel that we can offer best-of-breed capabilities in the security markets we compete in."
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Microsoft and Cisco Systems have announced that the two companies have entered into a pact to share security and network health technologies, to better stop, isolate and eliminate viruses and other malicious codes on Windows-based networks.
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Computer Associates International Inc. (CA) said on Wednesday that it was joining a Cisco Systems Inc. program to harden enterprise networks against attacks by enforcing security policies on computer hosts that attempt to access network resources, the company said in a statement.
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Symantec Corp and Juniper Networks Inc have announced a deal that will integrate more of the security company's technology into Juniper's networking gear.
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Blog: News last week that Cisco, EMC, and Microsoft are working on Secure Information Sharing Architecture was an exception to the industry tendency to save the juicy stuff for September.
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(InfoWorld) - IBM Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. plan to release a jointly developed product in July as part of an expansion of their existing alliance around telecommunications network management and service assurance, the companies said Thursday. The new offering, Cisco Assurance Management Solution, integrates Cisco's Active Network Abstraction (ANA) device management and mediation technology with IBM's Tivoli Netcool/OMNIbus and Netcool/Precision management software, according to Alan Ganek, chief technology officer, IBM Tivoli Software. The vendors have been working on the product for about a year, he said. Ganek's hopeful that the new product will appeal not only to telecom carriers but also to large enterprises such as financial services providers that are looking for a simpler way to manage their heterogenous networks. IBM does have "very high expectations" about the likely revenue the codeveloped product might generate, Ganek said, though he declined to name a figure. IBM and Cisco also didn't provide any financial details about their expanded relationship. "IBM's overall partnership with Cisco has largely been around the services area," Ganek said. "This new one really gets into our development teams in the software world." IBM and Cisco struck a broad-based strategic alliance back in 1999 and in recent months have been collaborating on multiple fronts including an expansion of their unified communications partnership and a combined cooperative support offering. The first version of Cisco Assurance Management Solution will offer features including network fault monitoring, trouble isolation and real-time service-level event management. Future versions of the software will include more of IBM's Tivoli systems and network management technology, Ganek said. The next natural additions would be the Tivoli Change and Configuration Management Database and Tivoli Monitoring, he added. Over the long term, new releases of Cisco Assurance Management Solution could also include technology IBM acquired from the purchase of network performance monitoring software company Vallent, Ganek said. IBM closed the purchase of Vallent in February and the software became part of its Tivoli business unit. IBM gained access to the Netcool software after buying network management specialist Micromuse in February 2006. It's also possible that IBM and Cisco may release other jointly developed software, he added. Ganek stressed that the IBM/Cisco relationship isn't exclusive and that IBM also has "great relationships" working closely with most of the other network equipment providers. Cisco's ANA already interoperates with other members of the Tivoli family including Tivoli Netcool/Impact and Tivoli Business Service Manager. Cisco has been rebranding IBM's Tivoli Netcool as Cisco Info Center for some time and it's being used by more than 500 of its customers. Â
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Cisco Systems Inc.  and  International Business Machines Corp.  said on Monday  they will combine technical support services for mutual  customers, highlighting increasingly close ties between the  network equipment maker and computer services company.
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Microsoft and Cisco Systems will collaborate to make their emerging products for network security compatible. The vendors had been working independently in the area of PC access to networks but say customers
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Prometric and Pearson Vue divvy up the goods Microsoft and Cisco have been playing tit for tat with rival exam providers Prometric and Pearson Vue.â¦
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Cisco Systems plans to offer a tool to help small and medium-size businesses use Microsoft CRM software in combination with a Cisco IP communication system.
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Their biggest clients hit hard by viruses, worms and other attacks, Microsoft Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. are planning to work together to help their corporate customers fight back.
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Cisco Systems Inc. channel partners will be able to offer real-time monitoring of enterprises&#39; networks after the company agreed to acquire NetSolve Inc.
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Cisco and IBM said they are working together to improve systems management for network carriers by combing Tivoli management software with Cisco's Active Network Abstraction technology.