Intel/McAfee Unified Cloud Security Package Is First Post-Acquisition Offering

McAfee and Intel have launched their first major joint initiative, bringing together a broad set of cloud security capabilities that encompass McAfee email, web and data loss protection (DLP) security products and services, as well as Intel identity management tools. The McAfee Cloud Security Platform is touted as providing comprehensive data protection to and from the cloud regardless of from what (for example, corporate computer, tablet or personal smartphone), by whom and from where the data is being accessed.

McAfee describes three "streams" that the products and services riding on the Cloud Security Platform can protect: web, email, and identity and authentication traffic. "Email and web traffic go through corporate security policies, to be secure regardless of location, device and who they are," says Marc Olesen, McAfee senior VP and general manager, cloud and content." It's extending enterprise policy so you're communicating with the cloud and protected the same way as in the office."

The various products and services come together under common management, with unified policy administration and reporting, leveraging McAfee's e-Policy Orchestrator (ePO). ePO also provides APIs for certified partner products. McAfee is offering the component products and services via a single sales mechanism, user-based subscriptions. So, enterprises can choose from among various options or combinations--including appliances, software, virtual appliances and hosted services--using a common pricing model.

"The subscription model they are using to roll this out allows them to scale to the size of the organization pretty well," says Robert Enderle, principal analyst, Enderle Group. "It's relatively comprehensive: It addresses federated identity management across the board; it's not just securing the environment, but is also assuring the endpoints, which is not usual in a single offering."

In addition to the familiar McAfee web and email products and services, the Cloud Security Platform incorporates two Intel modules:

The McAfee branding for the unified platform is significant, says Enderle. "Typically, you wouldn't look at a company like Intel to solve a problem like this; you would look to a company like McAfee," he says. "And, by dropping under the McAfee brand and execution model, the technology has a better chance of being successful."The Cloud Security Platform comes about two months after Intel's acquisition of McAfee became final (less then nine months after the deal was announced).

"This is a proof-point that the two companies can work together," says Enderle. "That's important, because a lot of times mergers, particularly ones at arm's length like this one, simply become a holding company kind of arrangement and joint projects never really materialize. This one has materialized very quickly."

See more on this topic by subscribing to Network Computing Pro Reports Strategy: Collaboration Security (subscription required).