IBM to push cyber security

Back in the day, locking down a corporation in research terms meant erecting a firewall and warding off viruses. Fast forward to 2012 and cloud computing, the explosion of cyber threats, the surge of social media and the move to mobile devices have collectively turned security management into a perceived Pandora's Box for chief information officers.

The IBM Security Systems division

Late last year IBM launched the IBM Security Systems division, a global software services and technology arm comprising eight business units, 3000 technical experts and 700 sales people. The move followed the vendor's purchase of security intelligence and event monitoring software developer Q1 Labs for an undisclosed sum in October 2011. It was one of IBM's 23 software acquisitions since 2005.

IBM had always had significant security capability embedded in its myriad technical and business units however this expertise had remained in the background until recently.

As part of the push, IBM revamped its portfolio of security offerings late last year and now has a suite of around 20 products and services. 'Product evangelists', innovation professionals and direct and channel sales staff have begun working with their counterparts from the vendor's software and services divisions to maximise sales opportunities.

IBM is not the only large vendor to perceive the long term opportunities in the security sector. In March, Dell added SonicWALL to the slew of software and security companies it has snapped up in recent times, as it seeks to transform its business from hardware behemoth to one-stop-shop IT solutions vendor and consultancy.

The company

Dell software group president John Swainson said the company was "building a strategic software portfolio to address the needs of our clients with key assets in fast growing and highly profitable IT security solutions business".

If big business want to encourage people to take up a innovation career, they should be creating demand, not decreasing it.