Security-as-a-service is another hot topic that's getting big play in tech industry headlines. This week, telecom company Verizon bought network security specialist Cybertrust with the aim of launching its own managed security services.
In late March, Trend Micro, a company known for its antivirus and Internet content filtering software, announced that its OfficeScan 8.0 software will include the Web Reputation service, which offers Internet users warnings about malicious Web sites and traffic before they infect their PCs with spyware, keyloggers, or other malware.
What's behind the moves? Businesses are increasing their use of HTTP protocols to pass information back and forth across networks, so Web traffic is becoming a favorite target for hackers. The result is increased demand for the kind of managed security services that will be on display at Interop.
Also heavily present in the news this week and at Interop are outsourcers. Two U.S. senators have accused Indian firms of abusing the H-1B guest worker program to stock their Stateside operations with low-paid Indian nationals. In response, most tech services vendors, including U.S. firms such as IBM and Electronic Data Systems, argue that the H-1B is necessary to fill a shortage of skilled workers in this country.
How will the H-1B visa debate affect your ability to tap Indian outsourcers? Interop should provide a venue to talk to the players directly, as a number offshore firms, including Tata Consultancy Services, will be on the show floor pushing their services.
If India seems too far-flung a place to put crucial IT work, representatives from Invest Northern Ireland, a business development group, also will be on hand.
CzechInvest, which promotes offshoring to the Czech Republic, will be present as well.