Cyber Security Institute

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Piecing together IBM’s security puzzle

IBM owns some of the world’s leading IT security talent, products, and services, but executives with the massive company say it will likely never aim to become what people might label as a true “security vendor.”  The technology giant has added high-profile security assets in the last year alone, acquiring such companies as applications testing specialist Watchfire in June 2007 and managed services and hardware giant ISS in Aug. 2006.  However, unlike rivals like Microsoft—which has moved to stake a claim in the anti-virus, messaging, and collaboration security segments with its own products—executives say that Big Blue is more interested in blending security further into its existing products and services than it is hopeful of becoming a more mainstream security provider.

Yet the common theme throughout the company’s overarching strategy is not one that emphasizes competition in hot markets or via standalone products, executives say, but rather an approach that attempts to mix security skills into almost all of its existing business lines as a component of its larger vision.

All of those efforts tie back into the notion of lowering customers’ security concerns either by bolstering the onboard protection of its products or fostering business controls that benefit areas like regulatory compliance, the executive said.

The effort is being undertaken in the name of helping businesses drive security further into their own software development efforts, a trend that is currently sweeping across that sector.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/07/23/Piecing-together-IBM’s-security-puzzle_1.html