How to Re-evaluate Your Network Security Vendor?

The purpose of this e-book is to help you reach better decisions regarding your security strategy and choice of security vendor with the goal of making network security simpler, better and more affordable. As an introduction to this e-book we would like to go over the “why” you need to re-evaluate your security vendor, before we get into the “how”.

The drivers we see for re-evaluating security vendors are:

Total Cost of OwnershipThe capital and operational expenses current with the incumbent solution vs the alternatives.

Agility and AdaptabilityHow quickly the current solution can adapt to emerging threat and incorporate new capabilities.

Support for Evolving Business RequirementsHow the solution’s roadmap supports new business requirements such as global expansion, Cloud-based resources and the mobile workforce.

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The solution’s roadmap is of strategic importance because it may require not just a technical analysis, but a rethinking of the overall network and security architecture for the business. Three forces are impacting the way we do business today: Globalization, Cloud and Mobility.

GlobalizationNetwork topology has become more complex as organizations need to connect multiple locations into a single global network and keep it secure. The challenges of securing such a complex network derive mostly from having to deploy multiple security solutions at each location separately.

CloudThe use of Cloud infrastructure and applications is loosening the grip on enterprise applications and data. Business critical information is now spread in multiple locations, some outside your control (like, within Amazon AWS or Salesforce.com).

Mobility“Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) is now a reality and the ability to control the devices or the way in which they are used, is severely restricted. You need to provide the mobile workforce with secure access to your enterprise applications and data.

Why Should You Re-evaluate Your Vendor?

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When Should You Re-evaluate Your Vendor?The first step in re-evaluating your security vendor is finding the optimal timing for it. In this section we will review several cases, which combined or stand-alone, mark an ideal timing to re-evaluate your security vendor.

Hardware Refresh and Footprint ExpansionBy nature, hardware has a tendency to malfunction or even perish with time and needs to be replaced now and again. In addition, capacity upgrades, expansion to new locations and new regions all mean it’s time to spend incremental budgets on new hardware purchases or look for alternatives.

License Renewals While the hardware may last for several years, software licenses typically renew annually. If your hardware is mostly depreciated, the main cost is software license renewals, which represent a good opportunity to look into alternatives which may be available at the mere cost of the software license.

M&A and Vendor Consolidation If your organization is going through M&A you may end up with multiple security vendors in your network. You may be looking at a heterogeneous security environment across multiple business units that can offer a simplification and cost reduction benefit when standardizing on a common solution.

International ExpansionYou need to consider vendor presence and support of that territory. In addition, network security can be affected by connectivity issues across continents. For example, VPN access and even site-to-site mesh established over large distances, are likely to experience high latency that affect end user experience.

Cloud Datacenter Migration If you are migrating all or part of your infrastructure to the Cloud, you need to integrate the new “datacenter” into your network. This often requires the deployment of new network security solution which may not be available from your current vendor or come at an additional cost.

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What to Consider When Evaluating Current and Future Vendors?

Capital Expense

Do I want to own the solution? Most network security solutions are packaged into physical and virtual appliances. There is a capital expense associated with purchasing, upgrading and retiring this equipment. Even if you use a virtual appliance you need to provide the hardware to run the virtual image. In general, the more locations you have the more expensive this proposition is. If you are subject to specific regulations or reside in specific territory you may have to own the infrastructure.

Operational Expenses

Can I afford to maintain the solution? Maintaining a skilled IT staff of network and security experts, is necessary to sustain your network security infrastructure. If you use appliances, you will need to have IT stuff at each location or hire local contractors to service the network security footprint. The need to repair and replace appliances introduces a level of complexity requiring you to engage with local channels to provide replacement equipment and installation services. Finally, your team needs to periodically plan capacity increases and incremental deployments of new appliances as the business expands.

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What to Consider When Evaluating Current and Future Vendors?

Risk Mitigation

Can I keep up with frequent upgrades to patch vulnerabilities and access new features?Attackers are moving fast and enterprises strive to stay ahead. Consider what it takes to upgrade the appliance software to keep up with emerging threats, patch vulnerabilities and benefit from new features. It often involves down time and adherence to maintenance windows, with remote upgrade process that is time consuming and risky.

Complexity Reduction

How many point solutions do I need to deploy and manage to cover all my users and data?With Globalization, Cloud and Mobility becoming the driving force behind your business, your legacy security products may fall short. It means you have to incorporate point solutions for Cloud security and mobile workforce protection. This obviously increases your capital and operational expense as well as security risks associated with misconfigurations and vulnerabilities. Generally speaking, consolidating multiple requirements and even IT domains can help the reduce the footprint you need to manage.

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What to Consider When Evaluating Current and Future Vendors?

Innovation and Roadmap

Can my vendor keep up with emerging business requirements and new threats? Vendors investment in evolving their product is a tricky part of their business which is more related to their competitive positioning and the markets they service. In general, smaller vendors move faster, and innovate to stay ahead and offer cutting edge capabilities. Larger vendors have more resources, but can be slower and less responsive.

Supportability

Is my vendor well positioned to support my business? Vendors are roughly divided into 2 groups: product-focused and service-focused. If you buy products, the vendor focus tends to be around the initial transaction and the renewals. When you buy a service, you maintain a continuous relationship with your vendor, that tend to focus more on customer success. Consider how your experience had been to date along that spectrum.

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A New Way Forward with Network Security as a ServiceNetwork Security as a Service solutions, such as Cato Cloud, are tackling these challenges with a new architectural approach for delivering a secure network to the business.

Allows customers to eliminate capital expense associated with the appliance life cycle and reduce the operational expense needed to manage a complex, distributed network security environment.

Seamlessly adapts to emerging threats and introduce new capabilities without requiring the customers to take any action.

Integrates all parts of the business including: physical locations, cloud and infrastructure and the mobile workforce into one logical network that can be controlled with a unified policy. This reduces the need to deploy and integrate multiple point solutions to cover all parts of the business.

Network Security as a Service:

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Stuff to check Comments

Why should you re-evaluate your vendor?

Capital and Operational Expenses

Manpower

Appliances

Licensing

Other

Agility and adaptability

Enhancements frequency

Upgrade/Patch

Support for evolving business requirements

Remote locations

Cloud Applications

Cloud infrastructure

Mobile workforce

Other

When should you re-evaluate your vendor?

Hardware refresh - capacity upgrade

Hardware refresh - retiring hardware

License renewals

M&A & Vendor consolidation

Regional, National and International expansion

Cloud datacenter migration

Some more Comments

What to consider when evaluating current and future vendors?

Do I want to own on-premise hardware appliances and security software solutions?

Can I afford to maintain the solution?

Can I keep up with frequent upgrades to patch vulnerabilities and access new features?

How many point solutions do I need to deploy and manage to cover all my users (office and mobile) and data (on-premise and in the Cloud)?

Can my vendor keep up with emerging business requirements and new threats?

Is my vendor well positioned to support my business?

Check List

You should try us if...

You have a regional, national or globally

distributed organization.

Your remote locations and mobile users

need a secure and fast, global access to

all apps (cloud and on-premise).

You expect your network security

to be always up to date, with zero

maintenance.

You are looking to reduce costs on

network security appliances.

You want to secure all your remote

locations, with no appliances or

backhauling.

You are looking to consolidate your

networking and security; appliances and

vendors, at the fraction of the cost.

Visit: www.CatoNetworks.com

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