StillSecure buys ProtectPoint to enter managed services market

By Neil Roiter, Senior Technology Editor, Information Security Magazine 09 Feb 2009 | SearchSecurityChannel.com

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StillSecure has entered the managed security services market with its acquisition of ProtectPoint Security Inc., a Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based managed services security provider (MSSP).

In tough economic times like this, outsourcing security technologies is a very viable option. Alan Schimel, chief strategy officer, StillSecure

The deal gives StillSecure a beachhead in managed services with an established company and an expanded opportunity to sell its own products as services through ProtectPoint's channel partners. ProtectPoint works almost exclusively through the channel (they reported reaching 100 channel partners in 2007), focusing on midmarket customers.

StillSecure offers three product lines: Safe Access (NAC), Strata Guard (IDS/IPS) and VAM (vulnerability management). StillSecure will offer these as services on the ProtectPoint platform. ProtectPoint is a general security provider with managed firewall, VPN, IDS/IPS, content filtering, antispam and gateway antivirus services. They also perform traffic analysis and have a security consulting practice.

"Where StillSecure has a better, deeper, wider offering, we'll probably go that way," said Alan Schimel , StillSecure chief strategy officer.

Denver, Colo.-based StillSecure gets a second security operations center. The full ProtectPoint staff comes over with the acquisition, including CEO Steve Harris, who will join StillSecure's executive team.

Managed services are gaining in the market, especially as small- and mid-sized companies that lack the manpower and expertise to address criminal threats, particularly via the Web, and compliance requirements like PCI DSS and HIPAA that touch even smaller organizations. The weak economy makes the cost savings even more attractive.

Schimel said the StillSecure products will be integrated in no more than a few weeks. He also said that StillSecure may make additional managed-services acquisitions, possibly looking for a service provider that can manage existing on-premise products for customers.

"The challenge for midmarket, especially, is finding qualified security experts," he said. "So, in tough economic times like this, outsourcing security technologies is a very viable option."

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