We can look back to the precursors of NAC with products from vendors like Perfigo, Zone Labs, and Sygate. The crazy idea to control access to a network as hosts attached was pretty much unheard of. Well, OK. I can track this idea back to the late '90s and Directory Enabled Networking that was all the rage. But NAC took hold and vendors started coming out of the woodwork. New vendors popped up. Existing vendors changed gears. At the same time, well-established companies took notice of the emerging NAC market and the precursors to NAC were snapped up. Cisco bought Perfigo in 2004. Check Point bought Zone Labs in 2004. Symantec bought Sygate in 2005. Sophos bought Endforce in 2007.
That left a whole slew of vendors to fight for funding and customers. I don't know what happened to Lockdown, but it looks as though it ran out of cash and either couldn't, or didn't want, to secure more funding. Of all the people in IT vendor community, I feel for the small startups struggling to win business day in, day out. That kind of environment has to take its toll after awhile.
The second prediction, that there was going to be consolidation, hasn't happened just yet. Caymas closed up shop middle of 2007. Something is going on over at Vernier Networks, but they aren't saying what. And now Lockdown closed its doors. Hardly the much-anticipated winnowing of the wheat from the chaff. With over 30 vendors in the NAC space, company closings and acquisitions are bound to thin the field further.
Where does that leave you, dear reader? One of the factors startups have to contend with is the perception that they could disappear one day, leaving customers in the lurch. Lockdown Network's legacy may be a cautionary tale that grizzled CIOs tell wet-behind-the-ear admins around the virtual campfire. "Beware the VC funded start-up," the CIO grumbles, "they could disappear tomorrow." That's a very real risk and one of the reasons why funding announcements and customer wins are important to track. If you're looking at NAC vendors that are still surviving in whole or in part on funding, you have to make doubly sure to perform due diligence on the company's financials before and after the sale.
Startups usually have the most interesting technology and are often willing to make changes to win your business, but if they tank, you could be left holding the bag.
To realize the benefits of cloud-native software, an application must actually be cloud-native—designed to run in the cloud, interacting with disaggregated cloud services, fully manageable as code—to deliver the expected benefits.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
