Security Watch | Matt Hines » IT security fear and grow-thing in Silicon Valley

December 07, 2007 | Comments: (0)

IT security fear and grow-thing in Silicon Valley

TAGS: Security

Living on the East Coast and covering IT has its challenges as so much of the industry is centered in California's Silicon Valley.

There are plenty of vendors and tons of analysts on the East Coast, and major groupings of companies in Boston, DC and Atlanta, but, to really get a feel for the business it's vital to head west to tour The Valley from time to time (and not during the crush of an all-out industry event like the annual RSA Security confab).

That's what I've been up to all week -- specifically meeting with companies here that have their hands buried deep in the IT security business.

Just as we've been told back East (where it conveniently snowed all week), and by local all accounts and observations, things are currently thriving in the SV region -- and the security segment certainly seems to be no exception.

The seemingly ceaseless freeway traffic alone is enough to convince you that there's plenty going on here in general.

From the tidy (and surprisingly unassuming) headquarters of Symantec and McAfee, to the looming caverns of firms including Cisco, Google and Intel, along with smaller startups tucked into office parks like Cenzic and FireEye, there is enough expertise and innovation being generated here to keep a reporter like me busy gathering data for months.

With only 4.5 days to run around and see as much as I could while making time available to visit InfoWorld's San Fran headquarters, the companies above represent the list of firms I was able to visit. My apologies to all the friends and colleagues that I missed.

Some observations:

-The senior leaders of Symantec and McAfee appear to have dramatically differing strategies for running their companies, on issues ranging from adoption of SaaS to the continued acquisition of other businesses. It's pretty fascinating to talk to the respective CEOs, they're not as similar in thinking as you might tend to think with the way the companies are typically lumped together by analysts and the media.

-Major platform providers like Cisco, Google and Intel are dead serious about expanding their security businesses and integrating more tools into their existing products. Symantec and McAfee and the above companies claim that they won't compete as much as foster a broader ecosystem for endpoint, online and network protection, but it seems inevitable that the push of the platform providers will shift the product plans of those traditional security vendors.

-Threats continue to get scarier and stealthier. We've been writing about this trend for years, but after you spend a few days briefing with the experts about issues like botnets and polymorphic, targeted malware attacks, you can't help but feel a little more paranoid and amazed at the innovation of the bad guys.

-Consolidation will continue at a rapid pace. Mssrs. Thompson and DeWalt of Symantec and McAfee, respectively, make no secret of the fact that they will continue to use their balance sheets and deep pockets to acquire the tools they feel are necessary to provide the full spectrum of solutions to their customers. Something tells me Cisco and Google aren't done adding talent and products themselves, and they've got the money to do so as well. Most of the smaller VC-backed firms seem to want to be bought, but only if the buyers make sense (not just cents).

-Surprisingly few people admit to reading the Fake Steve Jobs blog, which I assumed was an everyday staple out here, as it has become for me. Maybe they're simply too busy or it has already become cliché to follow it that closely here. I still love it.

-The idea that innovation is stalling in the U.S. is overblown. As my brother who is the restaurant industry reminded me when I was recounting to him the hordes of amazing talent and incredible ideas flexing their collective muscle out here, we're losing a lot more manufacturing and services industry jobs overseas, while Americans (and the crowds of ex-pats who are living and working here) are still launching an avalanche of new concepts and technologies.

-Did I mention the traffic? I left Google two nights in a row at roughly 5pm. Bad idea, and you realize why it's vital for companies like the search giant to create such cool places for their employees to work. You need a lot of free food and soda pop to retain people when they have to come in at 6 and leave at 8 to keep from dying a slow death sitting in gridlock. It took about 2 hours to get back to my hotel in SF each night. But, traffic also means that there are lots of people working here, and we can all agree that this is a good thing. (It also softens the blow when Avis hooks you up with a brand new fire-red Pontiac Solstice convertible to roll in, even if I only got the top down once and had to use the heater when doing so).

-West Coast sports fans are really tired of the current dominance of Boston's professional teams, and the legions of (insufferable, gloating) fans that have relocated here or come to visit. I wore my Celtics cap to sports bars and a Golden State Warriors game (thanks Neil Wu Becker!) and I quickly made new friends who were interested in telling me how lucky and annoying this trend has become. With ESPN running endless cycles of Pats highlights, Red Sox trade rumors and highlights of the rejuvenated C's all week, it's hard to blame them.

Over the coming weeks you'll see the results of my efforts to dig through all the content, news and perspectives I was able to cram into my notebooks and tape recorder during the visit. Yes, that's good old analog tape, because it has outlasted all its digital peers -- and yes, Dave DeWalt made fun of me for carrying it, because it is huge and decidedly out of place in SV. At least I finally got my hands on a cooler phone.

The biggest takeaway from the entire week is that the security sector is amazingly vibrant, fast-moving and full of some of the most unabashedly brilliant individuals you could ever care to interview.

Thanks again to all the interviewees themselves and the dedicated PR specialists who made my visit here such a whirlwind of fascinating briefings, wildly enjoyable meals and boisterous bar nights.

I love this town.

Now it's back to Planet Hoth.

Posted by Matt Hines on December 7, 2007 12:53 PM

RATE THIS ARTICLE: