-added contribution from Dr. Mitul Mehta

Finally, acknowledging long pending customers’ requests, Symantec Corp. is entering the encryption market with the twin acquisition of PGP Corp. and GuardianEdge Technologies Inc. Both strongly established vendors. Currently the worldwide encryption market is estimated to be roughly around a billion dollars and growing at 18 percent pa. The twin acquisition not only signifies Symantec’s entry into the encryption market but ensures it leadership position in terms of market share. Below we will outline our early initial guidance for end-user clients as to the significance of the deal, the need to acquire both companies, the likely roadmap ahead and our advice on what you should consider.

The Deal

On 29^th April 2010, Symantec signed a definitive agreement to acquire PGP Corporation and GuardianEdge Technologies Inc. for an aggregate sum of $ 370 Million. Symantec agreed to pay $70 million for San Mateo, Calif-based GuardianEdge and $300 million for Menlo Park, Calif.-based PGP. The agreements are subject to regulatory approvals and are expected to close during the June quarter. After the closure of these deals Symantec plans to integrate the two vendors’ platforms into its very own centralized management platform - Symantec Protection Center (SPC).

Significance of the deal

PGP and GuardianEdge are substantial vendors in the encryption space having a combined revenue of $ 93 million for LTM ending March 31, 2010. In addition, both the acquired entities currently have an OEM relationship with Symantec Corp. GuardianEdge Hard Disk Encryption and Removable Media, complements Symantec’s Endpoint Protection Suite as well as the Altiris Total Management Suite. PGP’s encryption technology, meanwhile, resides in the Symantec Data Loss Prevention offerings, which are based on the former Vontu solution. After the deal closure the integration issues for Symantec are expected to be minimal. The twin acquisitions largely expand Symantec’s addressable market. It also provides greater cross-selling opportunities for Symantec’s global sales team and it’s extensive partner network. PGP Corp has a strong customer base of around 110,000 corporate clients and more than 1 million individual clients. Whereas, GuardianEdge has significant penetration in the government and healthcare verticals. The most important aspect of these acquisitions is the augmentation of Symantec’s existing security portfolio with comprehensive and proven data protection technologies which will help them fuel growth and market share.

Why the need of acquiring two competitive vendors?

Currently the Encryption market is very fragmented with lots of sub segments (basically functionalities) and niche vendors. Even though PGP and GuardianEdge have some product overlap they are pretty good in their respective product functionalities. PGP has a comprehensive protection suite for Full Disk encryption, file/folder encryption, email encryption, mobile protection as well as strong policy-based key management. Whereas, GuardianEdge is good at providing removable media protection, device control and device control audit. Combining these two portfolios will provide a strong end-to-end data protection suite for Symantec. It is clearly visible from Symantec’s past couple of acquisitions that the company aims to address the end-to-end concept and should eventually end up leveraging its market leadership position. The perfect examples are Symantec’s acquisition of Vontu in Data Loss Prevention (DLP) space and MessageLabs acquisition in the hosted messaging security space.

Symantec’s likely integration roadmap

As pointed earlier, although the two acquired entities have some product overlap it doesn’t pose much of a product harmonization issue for Symantec. TekPlus believes that Symantec will go for best of breed or look at minimal disruption caused to the existing install base while selecting products or more appropriate functionalities from the two entities. Before going into the integration roadmap let’s just look at what these two vendors bring to the table.

Table 1: Product Mix of PGP Corp. and GuardianEdge Technologies Inc.              Source: TekPlus

Integration Roadmap

Phase 1: Integration of both vendor’s product suites and harmonization of product portfolio.

Phase 2: Integration of harmonized product suite with PGP’s Policy Management and Key Management Console.

Phase 3: Subsume Policy Management and Key Management Console into a broader Symantec Protection Center (SPC).

Phase 4: Bundling/Integration of end-to-end Encryption suite with Symantec’s existing offerings - Endpoint protection suite, Data Loss Prevention, Gateway Security, Hosted Messaging Security, Cloud services, Backup & Recovery etc.

Tek-Advice

As part of Symantec’s information centric approach to security, integrating encryption technologies and PGP’s key management platform into the Symantec portfolio will help the vendor to better address customer’s information protection concerns. If Symantec successfully demonstrates that it can continue to improve in integrating its acquisitions, as it did with DLP vendor Vontu it can be a huge growth opportunity for Symantec. Customers can get a consistent key management experience to more efficiently manage their information security and that too at reduced TCO.

Existing customers of PGP and GuardianEdge should continue doing business with each respective company as per usual. However existing customers of GuardianEdge Full Disk Encryption and Mobiledevice encryption need to carefully assess their renewal plans as Symantec might replace these technologies with those from PGP.

Perspective customers looking for encryption suites should consider putting their project on hold until the deal goes through and a clear integration roadmap with timelines is presented by Symantec.

Expect a lot of bundled offerings from Symantec to existing as well as new clients - Endpoint protection Suite + Encryption suite, DLP + Encryption and so on.

Ask for a clear direction plan from your channel partner after the deal has closed and provide particular attention to the upgrade/renewal timeline. If not cost effective leverage the competitive plays of other vendors to bargain a smarter deal.

TekPlus believes Symantec will play smart and effectively price to hang on to the install base of GuardianEdge and PGP.

The Infrastructure landscape is changing to the next-generation and is increasingly impacting business processes and it’s critical component -’Information’ and how we configure, mesh, leverage and access it. This will only lead to more complexity and demand for a more holistic approach which we believe Symantec is positioned for. The above deal only enhances it further.

[From our Advisories]

Emily Wentz asks for “Any brand new proxy websites for Websense that don’t have the word proxy on them? I need one that doesn’t have the word proxy anywhere on the page. Trying to get through Websense”.

Another young lady who, from her online name aspires to own a Porsche, asks “Does anyone know a new proxy that actually works? I need a new and current proxy that actually works and is unblocked or unused because my school basically blocked everything and I need to get on Facebook ASAP. So please help me out.”

Maybe the boys can help. Miles claims to have a solution. “I’ve been checking more, this only works on websites in the “Uncategorized” category, which is all websites that haven’t been pre-approved. I still need some more people to test this though, as I’ve not verified it yet.”

Smierg may be almost there. “I attend a technical college that uses Websense, and there’s a definite way around it, but I haven’t quite gotten to it yet. I’m trying to find a way to bypass the network’s DNS servers…If you can do this, Websense doesn’t exist. I haven’t tried it yet, but me and a friend have a vendetta against Websense so I should have something going within the next week or two”.

Then comes a cry of despair. “You are all weird…why won’t you stop lying…I tried everything yall said and couldn’t work…your all fakes…If I know who you all really are I’ll sue yall…”

These guys are being frustrated by Websense Web. This is the key offering from Websense (www.websense.com/) that provides real-time analysis and classification of content. It stops threats, web exploits and malware arriving and prevents users accidentally or deliberately visiting vulnerable sites or addresses.

Websense has now added - or is in the process of doing so – two more elements and has launched it as Triton. (www.websense.com/Content/Products.aspx?intcmp=HomePageCampaign_TRITON-021210) The Triton offering will probably be of less interest to schools and colleges who merely want to stop their students mucking about with dodgy sites. But Triton will be of enormous interest to international enterprises as it can be scaled to 100,000 seats and operate world-wide.

Triton does this through both corporate appliance(s) and through the cloud. A client can deploy its licences flexibly, either via an appliance (each appliance can handle up to 8,500 seats) or cloud as appropriate to clients’ needs – mobile workers included. This means achieving synchronicity of security policy across enforcement points in different parts of the world. The ‘handoff’ between appliance and cloud is handled by similar ‘awareness’ technology as used in mobile telephony. Thus if a mobile user enters a site where the corporate appliance is within range, it links with that. As soon as the worker leaves the site, the link is dropped and security is delivered through the cloud by WiFi links the worker may access.

The deliverables of Triton are Websense Web gateway as described, the Websense Data Security Suite for outgoing data loss prevention (DLP) and Websense Email Security. The last of these is claimed to provide a counter to targeted attacks propagated over the Web or through email such as the Aurora attack on Google and others. (http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/operation-aurora/)

Triton is managed by means of a console that has all three elements, unifying the three main vectors of system compromise.

Websense sees Triton as a ready made solution for controlling content Facebook’s so-called vanity sites. (http://www.facebook.com/marketing) Created to help (brand) marketers share with users and create movements (i.e. lots of followers) on Facebook, it is vital that they stay ‘on message’. Firms like Coca-Cola, BMW, McDonalds or Toyota don’t want scurrilous material or spurious links appearing.

The Websense solution is via software-as-a-service Defensio. (http://www.websense.com/content/Defensio.aspx) Aimed at bloggers, Facebook users, and social Web site owners it should protect them from comment spam, malware, and other nasties in user-generated content including embedded links. As before, Websense draws on its expertise in real-time analysis of Web 2.0 environment and its threats.

So those students really don’t have much chance. With the technology on an appliance, it is no longer behind a firewall. Everything on the corporate site must go through Websense. Reminder, kids, with real time classification of web pages going on all the time, Websense can examine Twitter, Facebook and similar social sites on the fly.

It is unlikely to be the Triton package though. Triton is not really feasible for less than 250 seats so Websense will not be targeting the SME sector.

-added contribution from Sandip Kale and Mitul Mehta

Let’s probe behind yesterday’s announcement that IBM is acquiring Intelliden, a privately-owned technology company based in Menlo Park.
Before we look at the technology, what about the market presence of IBM’s latest conquest? It has an interesting European dimension that is not typical of the usual Californian high-tech outfit. Its CEO, Alan Black, was previously managing director of Openwave Systems’s EMEA operations in Belfast. Alan McKee, head of engineering, comes from BT and Nortel EMEA, both based in Belfast where, no doubt, he and Black met. It is clearly a fortuitous combination as Intelliden’s key customers include Telecom Italia and Telefonica.
A Brownfield Network, just like a brownfield site in the construction industry, is one that has been built on before. It is composed of legacy. This means it could well be large, many hands have been involved in its creation and support, it has different technologies and poor documentation. In management terms too often the cry is ‘Fix the problem’. It should be, of course, ‘Solve the problem’ but that would take time and effort that may not be available when an emergency arises.
Imposed on this unstructured network are the regulatory compliance, operational compliance, security demands and audit. Even these processes are less than satisfactory in the Brownfield scenario. Today’s compliance calls may be irrelevant to yesterday’ equipment. An audit procedure may not match the syntax that has developed over time. Remember that these procedures for most network service management suppliers, rely on the command line interface (CLI) specification. Yet some of these can comprise half a million lines!
Intelliden has taken a new approach by developing a model based on XML it calls SmartModel. This is where IBM’s decision to acquire the company shows great shrewdness. Not only is the technology smart, it nicely complements IBM’s own skills in Tivoli.
Intelliden technology will be integrated into IBM Tivoli Software. As Intelliden provides network change and configuration management solutions by automating the management of thousands of network devices, Tivoli will enable its deployment and integration across organizational boundaries.
Intelliden pokes around in the innards of your network and sorts it out while Tivoli oversees it by providing the visibility, control and automation.
Looks a good combination.
Overall, this acquisition is of enormous significance to IBM. It is very strategic in nature and brings the above stated strengths to the Tivoli offerings. Additionally It also positions IBM well to compete with HP and Cisco who have made sizable inroads into the Service Provider space. Looking forward, the full portfolio from Intelliden enhances both the IBM stack, its ecosystem and its segment positioning leverage. The Intelliden client base also helps!

Oracle announced on 27th Jan 2010 that it has completed its acquisition of Sun Microsystems in a deal valued at more than $7 billion, a move that transforms the database and business-software giant into a hardware company as well. The European Commission has officially approved the Oracle-Sun merger after a series of assurances made by Oracle regarding open-source MySQL database. Oracle assured to spend more cash than Sun did on MySQL development and to set up advisory boards to include MySQL customers. Oracle also said it would not require paid support to get a commercial MySQL license and that it would offer flexible support contracts to the customers.

With the addition of servers, storage, SPARC processors, the Solaris operating system, Java, and the MySQL database to Oracle’s portfolio of database, middleware, and business applications, Oracle can be truly labelled as a “one-stop-shop” for all IT needs. In a live event on January 27, 2010, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, along with executives from Oracle and Sun, outlined the strategy for the combined companies, product roadmaps, and customer benefits. Below we highlight the key points of the integration plans.

Oracle plans to invest heavily in developing and selling hardware bundled with applications and database software. Already Oracle’s first such product, the Exadata appliance, has a pipeline of $100 million in sales. Exadata is a high-end storage server based on hardware from Sun released last year. However, the company has killed off Sun Open Cloud platform, a rival to Amazon’s cloud services that was launched less than a year ago. According to Oracle, Sun’s cloud technology will be integrated into its own cloud services, which will target service providers looking to roll out their own public clouds, and enterprises that want to build private clouds. Wherever the two portfolios overlap the general theme is - Oracle’s products remain the flagship offerings whereas Sun’s portfolio will be used as the reference technologies and for lightweight environment/ departmental needs.

Software development tools - Sun’s flagship Java NetBeans will be positioned as a tool for Lightweight Development Environment. However when it comes to develop enterprise-ready applications the developer community has to use JDeveloper, code written for Oracle’s umbrella ADF framework that underlies its database, middleware, and applications offerings.

SOA suite - Oracle’s SOA Suite 11g will remain as the flagship offering whereas Sun’s SOA suite - Composite Application Platform Suite (JCAPS) and GlassFish Enterprise Service Bus products will go on maintenance. Oracle will support collaboration between Sun JCAPS and Oracle SOA Suite through bridge technology while facilitating transition to the converged product line over time.

Identity & Access Management - Oracle Identity management will embed some provisioning technology from the Sun stack, but otherwise Oracle’s suite will remain the core attraction. However Sun’s identity and access management wont be discarded all together, as it will be promoted for midsized web installations. Integrating the two product lines will be a daunting task for Oracle because of all-together different product architectures.

Servers & Storage- Oracle will continue to invest in Sun’s multi-threaded UltraSparc T family of processors, which are used in its Niagara servers, and the M series server family, based on the Sparc64 processors developed by Fujitsu. Oracle will also continue to develop and sell Sun’s x64-based servers, which use processors from Intel and AMD, and also its Netra servers. Moving forward, TekPlus expects more of a custom-built server line from Oracle to run its enterprise applications. Oracle also plans to keep Sun’s disk storage business as well as its tape business. Sun 7000 open storage line and the ZFS storage file system will be at the heart of the company’s storage strategy.

Support Services - Oracle’s network of 8,000 support professionals operating out of 18 support centres will continue providing 24x7 support for customers across Oracle’s product lines. This support will be extended from applications to disk. Sun’s support delivery team will be joining the Oracle team to ensure continuity in how support is provided to Sun customers.

Supply Chain/ Marketing/Channels - Oracle plans to go with the Direct Sales model for the large customers. Oracle’s direct sales force will service 1,700 strategic named accounts and Sun’s top 4,000 customers. Oracle will move from Sun’s “build-to-stock” channel-marketing and supply strategy to one of “build-to-order.” As a result, it will close Sun’s distribution centres in the United States and in EMEA.

Tek-View
All the integration and combined strategy announcements seem to end the speculations of Oracle parting-off any of the Sun’s business units. Oracle is also going to hold worldwide welcome events to learn more about the integration throughout the rest of 2010. The major announcement seems to be the overhaul of the channel model and we believe it’s the right move as Sun had some unique and innovative technologies but it’s execution was not up to the mark. It will be interesting to see what direction Oracle takes in terms of Cloud Computing. Currently it seems that Oracle will follow Cisco’s approach of offering converged infrastructure to enterprise looking to build private clouds. Enterprise clients really need to ask for more clarity here.

The approval of Oracle-Sun merger should be welcome news for enterprise customers. Customers can expect innovative bundles from the combined company. Customers can also get better platform and application integration benefits with a complete stack under one roof. On the other hand, it also brings the disadvantages of vendor lock-in. The system integration and maintenance cost are expected to go down with Oracle-Sun combined offerings. The acquisition has created a big stir in IT market and TekPlus anticipates a price war between the big IT vendors. TekPlus advises end-users to ask for more details regarding product harmonization and bundling strategy before committing to a big project. Oracle needs to move faster in some places to outline more detailed roadmaps for high-end customers looking to invest over a longer time frame. Oracle also needs to better position its services group and create a higher value value stack to take advantage of the integrated solutions. TekPlus believes clients need to wait should clearer answers not be forthcoming but hopefully Oracle will soon articulate a more detailed picture. We will continue to advice in more depth as the announcements are made.

[From our Advisories]

The latest from Cisco confirms TekPlus’ earlier analysis (see the blog posting of 2 October 2009) about the acquisition of Tandberg.

In all the high falutin’ talk about TelePresence, Cisco always skated round the fact that its system was not compatible with others on the market. It focused on the fact it was a superior product. Cisco said it had better vision, better sound, better all round immersion experience. And Cisco was probably right - but it only worked with another TelePresence installation.

But all is conceded now. Following the conclusion of the legal steps of acquiring Tandberg, “Cisco will create an open architecture that provides greater interoperability with Tandberg and third-party systems".

After getting its confession out of the way, Cisco goes on to mention some of the Good Things that will come from this development. “…valuable features…such as One Button to Push and Continuous Presence, as well as integration with leading unified communications platforms", it says. Telepresence is not video-conferencing although for maximum benefit both types should be able to connect together. Frost & Sullivan defines telepresence as a “tightly integrated set of visual, audio and network technologies and services that together deliver an immersive, life-like communication experience".

It provides a road map that will be developed by a newly formed Cisco
TelePresence Technology Group. The portfolio will comprise:

Immersive TelePresence: The flagship Cisco TelePresence System 3000 series,"…the optimized experience for scalable deployments". Not quite available yet, but expect soon high-definition, immersive, multiscreen interoperability with other multiscreen systems. After all Tandberg’s T1 and T3 systems are already doing so.

Multipurpose Room Systems: Tandberg’s Profile Series will lead here and we expect it to absorb the Cisco TelePresence System 1300 for conference rooms.

Personal Systems: By conceding the strength of Tandberg offerings, (http://bit.ly/t48GP) it is probable that Cisco’s TelePresence System 1100 and System 500 will go the way of all flesh.

Platform Portfolio: Tandberg dominates here with the C-series, MXP codecs, set-top systems, PC video and high-definition cameras. This is stuff for integrators to create customized systems and must oviously be industry standard.

Infrastructure: Both companies will continue to offer the nuts and bolts products of teleconferencing like control units. Over time the ranges will be consolidated to meet full interoperability needs.

Services: Cisco TelePresence Exchange and Cisco TelePresence Public Suites will continue to operate.

Tandberg sales and channels organization will become a specialist sales team within Cisco for the sake of continuity. Does this mean autonomous?

Nah! Long time experience of mergers shows there will be a period of uncertainty. Lots of jockeying for position by the ambitious ones, while the others will flounder around bewildered by the new products and new reporting lines.

Cisco made a fine acquisition in Tandberg but that does not mean things will go smoothly. It has set out on the road of standards-compliant technology, notably H.323, H.264, H.239 and SIP. Sales also require networks supporting high-end bandwidth - a minimum of 4 Mbps and as much as 15 Mbps for theatre type presentations. Add in a recession and it could be 2011 before Cisco/Tandberg start to come right in this market.

The announcement that the U.S. Air Force (USAF) has awarded IBM a contract to design and demonstrate a secure cloud computing infrastructure capable of supporting defense and intelligence networks, moves the cloud computing/security issue to a totally new level.

Whilst this is ‘only’ a project, it looks very much like the Obama administration fulfilling its intent to adopt cloud computing in the federal government. Of course the usual benefits of this are trotted out by both government and suppliers: improve IT efficiency, reduce costs, greater flexibility and so on. With this defence (or, in view of its provenance should we write ‘defense’?) application it is said the “cloud model strengthens the resiliency of mission-critical applications by removing dependency on underlying hardware. Applications can be easily moved from one system to another in the event of system failures or cyber attacks".

The risk of cyber attacks on the military has been very much in the news lately. So IBM Research’s work on advanced cyber security and analytics technologies will have a ready audience in the Pentagon.

IBM says the project will push the technology boundaries and that is believable. Look at the canvas on which the IBM team will be working. On home territory, the USAF has Air Combat Command (ACC), Air Education and Training Command (AETC), Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), Air Mobility Command (AMC), with separate overseas commands covering Europe and Pacific. Remember the enormous responsibilities residing within those commands: AFGSC with a global capabilty to deliver atomic weapons and AFSPC looking spacewards. Think aircraft dropping bombs in Afghanistan while being remotely piloted from Louisiana. Think over 250 flying squadrons, nearly 100 bases, and 700,000 active military personnel around the world.

Wow! This is some challenge as the Pentagon and the whole US military infrastructure has been under attack for well over 10 years. ‘Moonlight Maze’ was the code name given to the attacks from Russia in the 1990s and ‘Titan Rain’ to the more recent campaign that appeared to come from China. In 2009 it was asserted on a CBS documentary that the whole US defense estbalishment had been electronically rolled up. Probing is occuring all the time.

It seems counter-intuitive, therefore, for the Air Force to think it can manage, monitor and secure its information more securely by using the cloud. Time after time in many surveys, users identify security as the no. 1 issue that concerns them.

However, IBM anticipates that it will be able to demonstrate an unprecedented level of security and network resiliency into the Air Force cloud design. How? Well how about advanced “stream computing” analytics as a key element? In its press release, (http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/29326.wss ) IBM says little to explain the term.

Tekplus has looked a little closer into what might be meant here. The term computing stream is used in a number of ways, but essentially it refers to a sequence of data elements made available over time. One of those ways is the data stream model, where the data cannot be randomly accessed - as on disk or memory - but must be accessed in order and can be read usually only once. There is more. IBM Research has published stuff on its System S Stream Computing System. It says it is a breakthrough technology that enables production and management of key information that is extracted from enormous volumes of potentially unimportant data.
(http://bit.ly/buLDgb)

IBM intends to couple this technology with USAF’s sensors and monitors – presumably in aircraft and satellites – to analyze the massive amounts of data flowing through its network. It aims to enable commanders to get fast, accurate insights about threats, including cyber attacks, while ensuring the network is not disrupted. And the guys making the decisions will do so with the aid of “customized executive-level dashboards”. As an old airman myself, all I can say is ‘bravo, USAF, I hope it works’. There is an old military maxim, ‘Time spent on reconnaissance is seldom wasted’.

But, but, but, I hear my reader cry, where is the super-dooper level of security in the cloud that everyone worries about? It looks as though there will be sensors that are monitoring the health and status of the network. In the event of cyber attack, officers could automatically shift the prevention environment based on rules-based protocols. But there is also an autonomic computing resource, where virtual cloud services are managed remotely. The USAF’s cloud infrastructure will constantly be able to retune itself for optimal performance - without human intervention.

This is not the first step by the US Department of Defense into the cloud. Warren Suss in Government Computer News summarised the five efforts he knew about last fall. (http://bit.ly/cDGmPy) Nevertheless this latest announcement by IBM and USAF appears to be the most ambitious so far.

The start of a press release begins thus:

Following the recent formation of its dedicated cloud consulting group, international solutions provider, Logicalis, today launches its Cooperative Enterprise Cloud Service. Architected on Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) and NetApp storage solutions, the service is the first to offer a single reference blueprint for on-site and hosted cloud services, enabling enterprises and public sector organisations to flex and scale their cloud computing strategies while ensuring seamless interoperability.

Why do companies that have a good story to tell, mess it all up by wrapping it in such pretentious twaddle? For this is an interesting story and Logicalis is a sound company. Fortunately TekPlus has Sandip Kale, a skilled linguist on the staff, who was able to translate this and the rest of the document.

Logicalis is an important Data Centre system integrator. It has launched a new product: Cooperative Enterprise Cloud Service. This is a private computing cloud that can be run (a) on the customer’s own equipment or (b) be hosted by Logicalis. Potential customers will be large organisations and the public sector. The key parts of the product are Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS) and NetApp storage. The service can be tailored to the size the customer wants and integrated with existing systems.

The on-site part of the implementation is offered as a service which Logicalis names as BOCS (Bespoke Onsite Cloud Service). The whole lot can be delivered in a container if that is what the customer wants. The hosted cloud services will be implemented in Logicalis Data Centre. This offers flexibility to enterprise clients as they can get additional computing resources if the need arises.

For example, suppose Client A is running 40-50 applications in its private cloud implemented by Logicalis. If a situation arises where the Client A requires additional storage or server resources to keep all the applications running, it can use Logicalis hosted cloud resources instead of buying more storage/server infrastructure.

Tom Kelly, managing director of Logicalis UK puts it a different way.

“This is the first enterprise-class cloud computing service that truly addresses the challenges driving ICT change. The Cooperative Enterprise Cloud Service enables CIOs to safely exploit the commercial and operational benefits of cloud-based strategies without necessitating an all-or-nothing approach. Moreover, it allows customers to build and right-size on-site private clouds, and then utilise our hosted cloud to scale as required. Our belief is that matched-architecture hybrid clouds are going to be the private and public sector’s first choice for their cloud computing strategies.”

Sorry, Tom, we prefer Sandip’s explanation.

Sandip goes on to explain how the offerings fit together and make things easy for the customer – what Logicalis calls ‘seamless and interoperable’. The private cloud implemented on a client site by Logicalis will be based on Cisco UCS, Cisco Nexus, NetApp storage and VmWare hypervisors. So it matches the same architecture used by Logicalis for its very own Data Centre, which provides the hosted cloud services.

The benefits are fairly obvious: security, reliability, energy efficient, sized to suit the customer but flexible enough to be readily expanded to actual business need, disaster recovery and an onshore location. Logicalis has facilities in the UK, US, Germany, South America and Asia Pacific.

Many years ago Hugh Trevor-Roper, an Oxford academic, historian and author, later enobled as Lord Dacre, wrote: “My cardinal rule for myself is that no one should ever have to read a sentence of mine twice in order to understand it. If they do, then I am at fault”.

Please, Logicalis, take note.

That 3Com (http://www.3com.com/corpinfo/en_US/index.html ) has yielded to what has seemed the inevitable for a long time now, is unsurprising.

There have been plenty of observers who have questioned its market durability. “Cautious in business, but willing to jump headlong into new technologies with little regard for their eventual success, 3Com made many mistakes but got lucky more often than chance would seem to allow". (Bill Ray, CFO publication http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/10723373?f=related )

That HP bought it is also unsurprising. Who else could? Regulatory issues would rule out firms like Cisco and IBM. Other smaller networking companies would face similar issues even if they could afford the USD 2.7 billion price tag. A non-US firm? Uh-uh, bad history there, man.

HP makes much of the Chinese contribution in this bid but HP has had deep links in China for a long time. There are security assets in the 3Com portfolio but are these that valuable when the security scenery is changing to a much more holistic approach?

The inevitable questions arise about integration of 3Com into HP’s Procurve house. Can it be done? What will it cost? How long will it take?

In all the China talk, no official mention has been made of Huawei’s place that was. With Huawei,( http://ww.huawei.com )3Com set up a 51/49 JV in November 2003 as H3C. (http://www.h3cnetworks.com/) It did well and three years later each partner bid against the other to gain 100% ownership. 3Com won out with a bid that valued H3C at USD 1.8 billion.

Huawei got closer to getting hold of 3Com when it became a junior partner to a bid by launched by private equity firm Bain Capital in late 2007. Assuming Bain Capital expected to bail out of the deal after 3 years or so, Huawei would have been in pole position to buy the lot. In the event the deal was scuppered early last year by the American government in the form of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), worried about foreign ownership of 3Com’s other main business, Tipping Point. (http://www.tippingpoint.com/ ) A supplier of intrusion prevention systems, Tipping Point Technologies was bought by 3Com in 2004.

So it seems that H in 3Com’s future will stand for Hewlett and not Huawei. Does this therefore mean there will be competition in China? After all Huawei sources a considerable part of its IP products from H3C. Will it want to continue to do so in view of the fact that its non-compete clause in the H3C sales agreement expired early in 2008? Will the Chinese authorities treat this development benignly? Might they want to play tit-for-tat after the way the US government interfered in the Bain bid?

While we see no overwhelming merit in the HP case we do see it could create serious competitive issues for Cisco. Cisco may have thought it was one step ahead when it announced it was entering the server and unified computing market just six months ago. (http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2009/prod_031609.html )

It looks as though HP may have countered that move – but it may be at too high a price. It’s worth noting that when Bain bid for 3Com about 2 years ago, it put only USD 2.2 billion on the table.

Although Microsoft announced its Business Productivity Online Suite – dedicated (BPOS-D) in October 2008 as available worldwide, it has taken a little longer to achieve this.

It has taken time to make the agreements with partners that will be delivering the package. One of the most recent is T-Systems (http://www.t-systems.com), Deutsche Telekom’s corporate customer arm.

BPOS-D forms part of Microsoft’s Software-plus-Services computing model. (http://www.microsoft.com/online/default.mspx) Microsoft scarcely mentions ‘Cloud’ (maybe it regards the term as too resonant of IBM aspirations) but defines this model as using “the reach of the Internet with the power of local software applications”.

BPOS-D is a package including Microsoft Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Communications Online and Office Live Meeting. It is aimed at customers of at least 5000 seats, giving them the capability to run services online for a fixed monthly fee per workstation. T-Systems, with its telecom background, can enhance the package by adding in the network infrastructure, storage and bandwidth.

T-Systems has been a Large Account Reseller for Microsoft products since 2003 and in Germany supported the launch of Vista (why boast about it!), Exchange, Biz Talk, Unified Communications, Business Intelligence and SharePoint. T-Systems has developed mobile solutions based on Microsoft technology. It is a big player with revenues around EUR 9.3 billion in the 2008.

Strangely, while BPOS-D has been rolled out worldwide, the regular issue BPOS, named imaginatively as Business Productivity Online Suite Standard, is only available in the US. We suspect this may be something to do with inadequacies of, or lack of development in, Microsoft’s distribution channel outside the Homeland.

A constant theme of our postings on Cloud has been the security issues that customers perceive as so significant in this area. So what about the security issues of delivering security products from the Cloud?

This is the latest development to come along thanks to an agreement between Verizon Business and McAfee. On one side we have a big communications company (Verizon, remember, was formed from Bell Atlantic, GTE and Nynex in the early 2000s) and on the other, one of the two major software security companies. (Originally anti-virus, anti-spam firms, McAfee and Symantec are generally acknowledged as market leaders)

Here is what the suits say in PR speak:
“Verizon Business will be able to expand and more fully touch every facet of enterprise security so that enterprises can confidently do business in this digital age", said Kerry Bailey, SV-P Verizon Business global solutions.
“This agreement underscores the importance of delivering comprehensive security solutions to meet the needs of business and government clients,” said David Scholtz, SV-P McAfee worldwide strategic alliances.

As for the Cloud, well those products are still in the offing, apparently. The Cloud gets a plug but it seems we shall have to wait a while to see what appears. On paper it looks good.

There will be a range of security technology stuff including firewalls, intrusion prevention services, anti-malware, content control and Secure Socket Layer (SSL) virtual private network (VPN). The services will be developed by McAfee and managed by Verizon. They look the sort of thing that distributed business may find suitable.

McAfee is strengthening its partner network and support thereof trying to make business with it easier and better rewarded. There will be new rules of engagement. The Verizon arrangement seems to be more in the way of an OEM deal but will Cloud delivery upset McAfee partners?