SonicWall VP Pinpoints Three Security Opportunities

SonicWall continues to build out its data-protection portfolio, augmenting its line of perimeter security solutions with continuous data protection and point-to-point VPN capabilities. Douglas Brockett, SonicWall's vice president and general manager, spoke with VARBusiness editor Larry Walsh about emerging opportunities.

VB: You've been talking with your partners about growth opportunities. What do you see as drivers of growth in security today?
Brockett: We see three major trends happening: First is mass digitization--more data being stored in more places. Second, ubiquitous connectivity. Data is not valuable unless people have access to it, and people are finding more places and ways [to do that]. Third, a rise in value of content--data has more value than we ever realized.

VB: Obviously, no one vendor can provide the products to protect against all threats. Is SonicWall willing to cooperate and integrate with other product sets?
Brockett: There's recognition that any solution is likely to land in a multivendor environment. What we need to do is ensure that these solutions provide good profit opportunities for partners, not just in terms of having low installation costs and low TCOs, but also providing recurring revenue opportunities.

VB: What do solution providers need to do to capitalize on these trends?
Brockett: First, they need to educate themselves. They have to work with their end users to see what kind of exposures are out there and being generated by these trends. Then they need to look at the technologies and help us to bring these things together.