"Shares of Internet Security Systems (ISSX:Nasdaq - commentary - research) sank Tuesday after an analyst downgraded the stock to a sell rating, citing more intense competition in the intrusion-detection market and customer dissatisfaction."
More woes for ISS and the IDS market in general. Despite the stock analyst concern and the Gartner "IDS is Dead" report from earlier in the summer, don't be so fast to give up on IDS entirely. While point products that deliver high levels of false positives are arguably not delivering enough value to justify the price point, the technology itself is useful.
To ensure that enterprise dollars will be spent, though, these products need to get smarter (reduce fale positives, provide better tuning) and integrate more competely with enterprise monitoring systems and SIM (Security Information/Event Management), such as the IBM Tivoli and CA, Unicenter. Islands of security and intrusion information are not enough any longer.
Having said that, don't assume ISS or any point product is necessarily down for the count. Remember all the noise about the demise of the point product vendor and rise of "one stop security shopping" in the late 90s?
At the time NAI looked like a good bet for the future and Checkpoint like a has-been. While a holistic view of the enterprise is critical to security, it doesn't mean companies will adopt less effective technology just because it comes from their "one stop" supplier. Innovative technology that delivers value and protection, even from a smaller, focused vendor, still has a place in the security world.
Customers read the reports and are influenced by marketing, yes, but at the end of the day they buy and maintain products that get the job done because they have a network to protect.
So while ISS CEO Tom Noonan's anger at the reports is understandable, the best way for him to rebut the findings is to hone the ISS IDS products and increase customer satisfaction and new adoptions. A large, contented customer base is something few analysts can take pot shots at.
Posted by Diana at August 27, 2003 07:17 AM