StillSecure Offers Cloud-Based Managed Security Services

StillSecure is offering its range of security services through a cloud-based option, selling largely to managed service providers and data center hosting services, as well as private cloud in government agencies and enterprises. The Cloud Security Services Platform is built on StillSecure’s ProtectPoint appliance, which is now virtualized for the full portfolio of security services, and supports multi-tenant environments in order to enable cloud deployments.

The platform is supported on VMware, Hyper-V, Xen and KVM. The services are managed by StillSecure for providers who can either resell them to customersand/or offer security as a value add to differentiate themselves in the market.

“We are offering a managed service that fits the model for data center and cloud providers for public and private cloud,” said Rajat Bhargava, StillSecure CEO. “Before, you would have to buy a physical appliance and put it in line, which defeats the purpose of a cloud-based environment. Now for every VM sold, you can add security for every customer.”

Cloud-based services won’t necessarily attract new providers into the security business, said Wendy Nather, senior analyst for The 451 Group, but it is a relatively painless way to layer in security, which is not the focal point of their business. “Security can be a luxury for enterprises, and the same is true for hosting providers,” she said. “They are concentrating on provisioning and availability. It’s expensive to hire expertise, soit’s easier if they can outsource.”

StillSecure security services include managed firewall, IDS/IPS, log management, PCI vulnerability scanning, VPN, Web security, Web application firewall and email security. They also manage customers’ Cisco and Fortinet UTM appliances.StillSecure built out its service offerings with the acquisition of ProtectPoint, a managed security services provider, in 2009. StillSecure also sells network access control, IDS/IPS and vulnerability management prodicts.

Cloud security services are particularly attractive to SMBs, especially those that are moving their business to the cloud, tech start-ups that don’t want to invest in infrastructure themselves, and enterprises and government agencies for use with select applications, said Bhargava. In addition, enterprises will look to cloud-based security for private clouds, but based on hosted infrastructure rather than internal data centers.

“We’re betting that the service provider market will grow much faster than the enterprise private cloud market,” he said. “If people are building their own clouds internally, over time they will ask, ‘Why are we doing this internally? Why not go to guys who have massive data centers andall this compute power?’”

Security is not yet a prime market factor in outsourcing IT, said Nather, although enterprises are more likely than SMBs to perform due diligence to vet a service provider’s security.

“I don’t know if enterprises are differentiating yet to the point where people are flocking directly to providers who are known concentrators of security,” she said. “It’s an essential thing that everyone asks about when outsourcing to a hosting provider, but as long as they say ‘Oh, yes, we have security,’ they will sign up.”

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