Security products: One size does not fit all

For the most part, security products have been horizontal in nature. Vendors produced technologies, burned CDs, wrote a few confusing user manuals and sold through a direct sales force, global channel, or e-commerce site. One size fits all.

This monolithic process is a tell-tale sign of an immature, supply side-driven market. A universal security "problem" is addressed by a technology "solution." No more viruses, spam or spyware! Celebration erupts on Malware Boulevard!

This model made sense a few years ago but it doesn't any more. Security isn't discrete; rather it's a patchwork of interrelated issues that must be looked at in a systematic way.

At large enterprises, this means security information must include details about functional technologies like networks, applications, and servers as well as summary information about the whole enchilada. You just can't get this from a point tool.

It's nice to see that the industry is taking note:

McAfee just released some new SMB bundles that marry desktop security with host-based intrusion prevention and a central management console. Good move. Last year, CA released a bundle for small businesses that included security and backup software under the assumption that the same IT folks are responsible for both of these operations. Right again. BMC came up with an Windows .Net Identity Management package for those that favor a Microsoft development framework. They shoot, they score!

Bundling is the easy part so I'm sure lots of other vendors will jump on the bandwagon. Moving forward, we are likely to see more targeted security--starting with services then moving on to products. Expect security suites for an SAP environment. Don't be surprised if you see security management for financial services. Health care-focused offerings, etc.

Those of us who've been around the technology industry have seen this movie before. Personally, I'm surprised it has taken the security crowd so long to figure this out--just about every technology layer around security has been through this evolution.

Better late than never.