Companies Rely on VPNs, Firewalls, Says In-Stat/MDR

April 2, 2002 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Network security has become an increasingly important consideration as companies and organizations store and transfer growing amounts of critical data over local and wide area networks, says market research firm In-Stat/MDR (instat.com) in the results of a study released Monday.

After surveying individuals with in positions of decision-making or purchasing authority for network equipment and services, says In-Stat/MDR, the firm found that growing network security challenges have led organizations of all sizes to turn to firewall technologies as the preferred method of protection.

Larger companies, says In-Stat/MDR, tend to favor hardware-based solutions, while smaller companies are relying more on software-based solutions.

And according to In-Stat/MDR, Cisco Systems, well established in both the networking hardware and security markets, was the top choice of provider among the survey respondents.

The market for “low-end” security appliances and software, says In-Stat/MDR, is served primarily by smaller, focused companies, while the mid- to high-end equipment market, more attractive to large corporate customers, is served more by the traditional networking equipment vendors.

"Respondents to In-Stat/MDR's survey cited manageability and compatibility of devices across all segments as being a very important selection criteria and customer support as being just as important as price points in the selection of firewall technologies," said Lucero. "Those vendors that can focus on these core criteria will fair the best in this highly competitive space."

The study also found that the use of VPN technology occurs mostly within the larger enterprise organizations, which have a greater need due to the frequency of diverse geographic locations and remote users in their operations. According to In-Stat/MDR, respondents cited an overall reluctance to outsource security measures.

The report, entitled “Security,” is the third report published by the InStat/MDR Lan Research Panel service, and is available for purchase on the company’s Web site.