Posted by Nick Mehta on Tue, Oct 27, 2009 @ 01:08 PM
We have a lot of respect for peers of ours in other cloud computing categories. In particular, ScanSafe has been an innovator in the cloud-based web security space for a long time.
Today, Cisco's security business unit announced they are acquiring ScanSafe for $183 million.
"With the acquisition of ScanSafe, Cisco is executing on our vision to build a borderless network security architecture that combines network and cloud-based services for advanced security enforcement," said Tom Gillis, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Security Technology Business Unit (STBU). "Cisco will provide customers the flexibility to choose the deployment model that best suits their organization and deliver anytime, anywhere protection against Web-based threats."
I've met with Tom Gillis at Cisco before and he's an impressive leader. Between the amazing success IronPort has had and the new acquisition of ScanSafe, it seems like Cisco is doing well in the cloud security space.
Congrats to Cisco and the ScanSafe team. Seems like a good fit for both and more validation of cloud computing in general.
Posted by Nick Mehta on Mon, Oct 19, 2009 @ 09:37 AM
Fans of the Godzilla franchise will attest to the fact that it's fun to watch giants at battle.
Last week, IBM introduced LotusLive iNotes, its cloud-based email offering in response to Google Apps and Microsoft Online Services.
As LiveOffice is a long-time provider of cloud-based email archiving services, we are excited about the increasing choice for customers in cloud email.
IBM has chosen to enter the market at a low price point ($36 per user per year, versus $50 for Google) but provides fairly limited mailbox sizes (1 GB) in its first iteration.
With rumors of Cisco entering the market, the battle is certainly going to be exciting to watch.
Matt Cain from analyst firm Gartner Group put it well in a recent interview with CRN.com:
"It's going to be a battle to the death," said Cain. "It's going to be great because the customer wins.
Let the wagers begin as to who ends up as Godzilla and who becomes Mothra.