Another issue is that Extend360 isn't a standalone product. It comes as part of a basic service offering that costs at least $7 to $8 per user. The new encryption piece can easily double that base price, subject to volume discounts. (Fiberlink's keeping mum on pricing specifics.)
Still, buying the Credant product alone is no bargain at about $85 per user. The package, called Mobile Guardian, runs under Windows and supports laptops as well as PDAs and smart phones, though Fiberlink is focusing mainly on laptops. Credant, which competes primarily with a vendor called Pointsec, also has partnerships with HP and EDS, even though this is the first service offering to emerge from an alliance.
At least one analyst thinks Fiberlink's service is a good deal compared with buying a product for in-house use. "Fiberlink gives you better integration and life-cycle support. You have just one throat to choke," says Andrew Jaquith, senior analyst with the Yankee Group. "With a service, if you don't like it, you can stop paying and unplug it." In addition, he says it's easier to provision a service, and there's no setup and training associated with bringing machinery in house.
Fiberlink says it's been trialing the encryption service to some of its Extend360 Mobility customers, but none have actually signed up to use it.
One of Fiberlink's existing customers, eFunds, uses Pointsec for encryption. But calls to ask the chief security officer there whether he'd make the change were unanswered at press time. Other Fiberlink customers include Bloomberg, Continental, and GE.
Bob Friday, Chief AI Officer for Juniper Networks, explains how the advanced technology is transforming operations.
Contact center leaders from 8x8, Awaken Intelligence, and 360insight discuss the importance of agent experience.
AI may force enterprises to rewire parts of their data centers so they are fully optimized to run such workloads. The question is do you use Ethernet or InfiniBand?
