AT&T Application Management
AT&T continues its cloud advance, delivering more managed application services from its Synaptic utility platform. This virtualized infrastructure strengthens AT&T’s position in an environment where cost and flexibility are big differentiators. (2/1/2010)

Google Apps
Google is proving to be more than a disruptive force in the cloud, scoring big wins such as its signing of the U.S. government. Yet, with entrenched rivals raising their games (and lowering prices), Google may find itself on the defensive. (2/1/2010)

IBM Applications on Demand
IBM’s efforts in the on-demand services space are paying big dividends. The company kicked off 2010 with one of the largest reported cloud engagements in its deal to transition 300,000+ Panasonic employees from Exchange to LotusLive. (2/1/2010)

Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS)
Microsoft is an aggressive presence in the cloud, cutting BPOS pricing and offering more standalone versions of individual applications. However, the company’s partner strategy opens up the potential for serious channel conflict. (2/1/2010)

OpSource On-Demand
OpSource plays a key role in helping vendors transition to a SaaS model or build out their on-demand businesses. A cozy cloud partnership with NTT starting in the U.S. and branching out into Europe is helping the company raise its global profile. (2/1/2010)

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Report Contents

• Current Perspective Rating
• Product Strengths & Weaknesses
• Product Buying Criteria
• Product Metrics

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Managed Applications Buying Criteria

• Total Cost of Ownership
  • A measure of the factors that affect the cost of a device over its entire useful life, including licensing, support contracts, training, support software, and other factors (TCO).
• Scalability
  • Scalability measures the performance and capacity of the security device based on key industry metrics including concurrent sessions, setup/teardown rate per second, and encryption and inspection performance, but also ranks solution breadth, clustering technologies, and architecture.
• Management
  • Firewalls and VPNs are often distributed across multiple geographies. Centralized reporting and management reigns in the cost of remotely administering users and networks.
• Encryption
  • The encryption metric specifically ranks each product based on its stated encryption capabilities and the platform's ability to deliver that encryption at speeds at or near the rated capacity of the device.
• Depth of Defense
  • Firewall/VPN and unified threat management devices are converging into a single product category in the enterprise branch and enterprise mid-market segments. Depth of Defense ranks each product based on the sophistication of its access and inspection features.

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Managed Applications Product Metrics

• General Information
  • Product Functionality
• Device Specific Information
  • Interface Count
  • Interface Types
  • Redundant Power Supplies
  • NEBS Compliance
  • Remote/Out of Band Management
  • High Availability Port
  • Routing Protocols
  • Product Warranty
  • 802.1Q VLAN Tagging
  • Latest Shipping Software
• VPN Specific Information
  • Maximum Concurrent Connections
  • 3DES Performance
  • 3DES Accelerated Performance
  • Encryption Algorithms
  • Network Integration
  • Industry Certifications
  • Tunneling Protocols
  • CAs Supported
  • Key Management
  • CA Revocation Methods
  • High Availability Features
  • VPN Architecture
  • AES Performance
  • NAT Traversal
  • SSL VPN Tunneling Features
  • SSL VPN Translation Features
  • SSL VPN Browser Support
• VPN Client Information
  • Client Name
  • Client Status
  • OS Support
  • Authentication Methods
  • Split Tunnel Support
  • Client Lock-Out
  • Personal Firewall
  • Personal Firewall Configuration
  • Remote Management
  • Client Config Check
  • Client Failover
• Firewall Features
  • Firewall Type
  • Address Translation
  • High Availability Sessions
  • Load Balancing
  • Protocol Support
  • Firewall Architecture
  • Virtual Firewalling
• Management Features
  • Management Station
  • Management OS Support
  • Management Devices Supported
  • Management Client Support
  • Logging Options
  • NMS Integration
  • Policy Based Configuration
  • Management Security
• Value Added Features
  • Denial of Service Protection
  • IDS Intelligence
  • Anti-Virus Scanning
  • Content Filtering
• Pricing
  • Solution Hardware Pricing
  • Add-on Hardware
  • Software Licenses
  • VPN Client Pricing
  • Solution Description & Restrictions
• Support/Maintenance
  • Hardware Maintenance Costs
  • Maintenance Include S/W Updates
  • Software ONLY Maintenance Cost