WatchGuard Leads Small & Midsize Security Market

SEATTLE, Dec. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- WatchGuard® Technologies, a global leader in business security solutions, today announced the results of Infonetics' market research for Q3, 2011, which shows WatchGuard as the leading vendor with 18.8 percent market share in the integrated security appliance category of $1,500 to $4,999 price band – a prime market segment for small and midsize businesses.  This marks the 15^th straight consecutive quarter in which WatchGuard has held the top position in this market.

Additionally, WatchGuard notes strong upward movement in two adjacent categories.  Here, revenue of WatchGuard UTM security appliances in the $5,000 to $9,999 price band grew 31.7 percent quarter over quarter, and in the enterprise segment of $10,000 to $29,999, WatchGuard rose 65.7 percent quarter over quarter.

"WatchGuard's 3Q results reinforce a key point about the company; even though they've expanded their product and technology offerings significantly over the last 2 years, they remain committed to their core market.  They haven't forgotten who brought them to the dance," said Jeff Wilson, Principal Analyst, Security at Infonetics.

"For several years now, WatchGuard has consistently been the number one UTM choice among small and midsize businesses due to the fact that no other vendor offers the same level of security, performance and value than WatchGuard," said Eric Aarrestad, Vice President of Marketing at WatchGuard Technologies.  "As evidenced by this latest analyst report, mid-market and enterprises are deploying WatchGuard security appliances at a faster rate than the market in total, which means larger businesses are turning to WatchGuard for their next-generation firewall needs."

WatchGuard – Multifunction Security Appliance Leader
New innovations keep WatchGuard ahead of the pack.  For example, one of the latest features available in all new WatchGuard's security appliances is the ability to create secure connectivity for Apple mobile products, specifically iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch® devices. This helps businesses address the ever-growing challenge of securing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) in corporate environments.

Additionally, WatchGuard attributes their top position to having solutions that improve business productivity.  For example, with WatchGuard Application Control, businesses gain in-depth, granular control over Web 2.0 applications, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and hundreds more.  Not only does WatchGuard Application Control protect against the next-generation of threats that target these popular applications, now businesses can rein in how individual employees use such applications, directly from the firewall.

By leveraging more than 2,500 unique application signatures, WatchGuard Application Control enables the firewall to identify and control nearly 2,000 web applications.  This level of control gives businesses new found freedom to align business needs with IT and security policies.  By doing so, businesses gain greater efficiencies and improved productivity, while administrators gain unprecedented visibility and control over applications that traverse their networks.  

Another innovation that keeps WatchGuard on top is its cloud-based security service, Reputation Enabled Defense. Reputation Enabled Defense gives businesses and their employees cloud protection against viruses, malware, spyware, keyloggers, botnets and other web-based threats, in addition to faster, more productive web surfing experiences.

Businesses only want to pay for the security that they need.  Because of this, WatchGuard offers seven add-on security services for its "all-in-one" XTM firewall appliances, including: Application Control, WebBlocker, Gateway Antivirus, Reputation Enabled Defense, spamBlocker, Intrusion Prevention and LiveSecurity.  These services can be purchased as a bundle or individually to best meet individual business needs.

Aarrestad concludes, "No other security vendor gives their customers the power, performance and protection that WatchGuard provides in a single security appliance, which explains why WatchGuard has been the UTM market leader for 15 consecutive quarters."

About WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.
Since 1996, WatchGuard® Technologies, Inc. has been the advanced technology leader of business security solutions, providing mission-critical protection to hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide.  The WatchGuard family of wired and wireless unified threat management appliances, messaging, content security and SSL VPN remote access solutions provide extensible network, application and data protection, as well as unparalleled network visibility, management and control.  WatchGuard products are backed by WatchGuard LiveSecurity® Service, an innovative support, maintenance, and education program.  WatchGuard is headquartered in Seattle and has offices serving North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. To learn more, visit http://www.watchguard.com/.

WatchGuard is a registered trademark of WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.  All other marks are property of their respective owners.

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SOURCE WatchGuard Technologies