Evaluation based on completeness of vision and ability to execute on it
Hamburg, Germany. November 23, 2010 – gateProtect, a leading German provider of Unified Threat Management (UTM) systems, today announced that it has been included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Threat Management. Gartner’s analysis is based on the completeness of the vendor’s business vision as well as its ability to execute on it. As the leading IT market research and advisory company, Gartner provides its Magic Quadrants to give a graphical representation of vendors evaluated in a particular software market at a specific time period. Against this backdrop, 13 providers of Unified Threat Management solutions were placed in the “Magic Quadrant for Unified Threat Management 2010” report by John Pescatore and Bob Walder which Gartner published on 22 October 2010.
According to Gartner, “Although many of the products in the market look like "Swiss army knives" with just about every possible network security function thrown into the mix, in talking with Gartner clients and vendor customer references using the products, the analyst firm finds the most important security controls to be (in priority order):
•Standard network stateful firewall functions
•Remote access and site-to-site virtual private network (VPN) support
•Web security gateway functionality (anti-malware, URL and content filtering)
•Network intrusion prevention focused on blocking attacks against unpatched Windows PCs and servers “
Gartner only positions companies in its Magic Quadrant that meet its criteria, which include a minimum level of annual revenue and active customer references as well as the necessary functionality. For the current UTM report, gateProtect’s inclusion was based on its ability to execute and completeness of vision.
gateProtect’s eGUI®, its graphical user interface that is unique in the UTM market, gives a process-oriented view of firewall rules on the desktop, unlike the table-based structures that are common in competitors’ solutions. Using icons representing network components, the administrator can set access permissions and data flows in the company by simple drag and drop. When the configuration is complete, the data is sent to the gateProtect Configuration Engine, which analyzes the settings and converts the graphical overview to actual network rules.
“We’re very proud to be included in Gartner’s study – which is recognized worldwide – and to be named alongside other major players in the space,” says Dennis Monner, CEO of gateProtect. “We see our positioning in the Magic Quadrant for Unified Threat Management as recognition for our unique approach with eGUI technology in this sector. We believe the inclusion in the Magic Quadrant proves the innovative character of this approach. What we do is to understand the challenges our customers – IT administrators – are facing and support them in a targeted way to optimize their processes. Every year, Gartner’s Magic Quadrant is a key benchmark for the market and for potential customers evaluating our solutions. We’re convinced that the new features we’ll be releasing over the next few months will confirm our growing significance in the UTM market – for our customers, partners and prospects.”
According to Gartner, “in 2009, the worldwide UTM market was worth approximately $1.5 billion, representing 25% growth over Gartner's 2007 estimate, with a forecast of 20% to 25% compound annual growth rate through 2012.” Further, “threats continue to evolve over time, and audit and regulatory demands will drive midsize businesses to demand more-advanced features, but we do not believe there will be major changes in these scenarios before 2012.” The factors underpinning this demand are described by John Pescatore and Bob Walder in their report “Magic Quadrant for Unified Threat Management”, published on 22 October 2010.
