Share This Article:

Perhaps 10 years from now the security world will mention FireMon in the same breath as Symantec, McAfee and Trend Micro. The spinoff of mega-integrator FishNet Security, already in growth mode, is spreading its wings further with the acquisition of privately held Saperix Technologies.

Founder Gary Fish wanted to acquire a 'game changer' to give his company, FireMon, an edge.

The deal will not only give FireMon a new set of capabilities, but demonstrates the critical need for all companies to differentiate themselves in more than just marketing spin.

“We were looking for something to change the game with the competition,” says founder Gary Fish. “It’s become a feature race. We needed something to take a left turn and get ahead.”

FireMon is a sophisticated firewall ruleset auditing and management tool developed by FishNet Security nearly a decade ago for its professional services practice. Its consultants and engineers needed a tool to automate the discovery of useless rulesets – or the policies for governing access through firewall ports – when working to improve security performance of client networks.

As a tool, FireMon proved invaluable in optimizing firewall performance. Being the entrepreneur that he is, Fish spun off FireMon as its own company under the brand Secure Passage. With the support of FishNet as a partner and client, Secure Passage took off. Last year, the company reskinned itself as FireMon, giving the company and the product consistent, recognizable branding.

But FireMon isn’t alone in the firewall ruleset management segment. It completes primarily with AlgoSec and Tufin Technologies. Performance and pricing set aside, there’s little on the surface that differentiates these three companies. And that was the problem Fish and team solved for with the Saperix acquisition.

Saperix is a company resulting from research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Lab. It visualizes network risk exposure and vulnerabilities in real-time. The technology is primary host-based, but the FireMon team has plans for developing network-based solution for real-time risk analysis and visualization.

The addition of Saperix changes the position of FireMon, putting it in line to compete with companies like Skybox and Red Seal. And because of its government roots, Saperix is giving FireMon a foothold in the federal marketplace. For all intents and purposes, the acquisition appears to be giving FireMon the “game changing” differentiation Fish sought.

But there’s something else at play here. As Fish has demonstrated time and again over the course of his 15 year career in developing FishNet into a multimillion security integration powerhouse and now with FireMon are two things: Growth is not an option. It’s an imperative; and differentiation and value is everything.

Fish has high hopes for the Saperix acquisition, but he’s not placing all his bets on it for growing FireMon. He’s actively looking for other companies and technologies to acquire to build out the FireMon portfolio, market reach and potential.

What Fish and FireMon is demonstrating is all companies – vendors, solution providers and services companies – need to develop their own identity, value proposition and unique position to achieve any hope of success. FireMon could probably sustain itself without making acquisitions or being a “me too” company, but sustaining only gets harder over time. Viability is the goal, and that requires growth, as FireMon is aptly exemplifying.

* * *

Lawrence M. Walsh is CEO and president of The 2112 Group, a technology business advisory service that specializes in optimizing indirect channels and partner relationships. He’s also the executive director of the Channel Vanguard Council. He is the former publisher of Channel Insider and editor of VARBusiness Magazine. You can reach him at lmwalsh@the2112group.com.

On Twitter:
Larry Walsh:@lmwalsh2112| Channelnomics: @channelnomics