By Antone Gonsalves, CRN, January 5, 2012, 1400 hrs
Check Point Software Technologies is giving customers the option of extending the security features in its on-premise software and appliances to Amazon's cloud computing platform.
The cloud service is priced the same as Check Point's on-premise software, which starts at $2,000 for a perpetual license. "It's like bringing up another security gateway," Fred Kost, Head, Product Marketing, Check Point, said. Amazon charges a separate monthly fee for its infrastructure-as-a-service platform.
Check Point sells a number of security products, including firewall, intrusion detection and prevention, URL filtering and data loss prevention. All the functionality available through Check Point's on-premise software will be available on Amazon, Kost said. In addition, customers can use the vendor's management console to deploy the same rules and policies in the cloud.
Check Point users who bought their original licenses from channel partners will have to go back to the same vendor to purchase the Amazon license to activate the service. The advantage of the new product is the ability to add cloud applications to the corporate network and use the same security platform. "For any of our customers looking at the cloud, this is their top concern," Kost said.
Check Point is particularly strong within large corporations, counting the majority of the Fortune 500 and Global 500 as customers. The latest product is expected to appeal to any of these customers looking at Amazon as a cloud platform. Check Point also sells security services that the vendor hosts and manages for customers for a starting price of $19 a month.
The Internet security market has become intensely competitive, as an increasing number of companies look to cloud computing to reduce hardware costs and software maintenance. Check Point competes with well-capitalized players Cisco, Juniper Networks, Symantec and Microsoft, as well as smaller companies, such as Sourcefire and Fortinet. |