HP Revamps, Expands Security Portfolio

The channel could be one of the big winners of the new and improved security portfolio HP is launching, The integrated security services portfolio, called HP Security, Compliance and Continuity Services, brings together more than 90 different security offerings that enable HP to offer security solutions that span from the desktop and printers to the data center and cloud.

"In bringing together the pieces of the different services we made it two plus two equals five,” says HP’s George Ferguson, product marketing manager, Security Compliance and Continuity Services. "I think there is a great deal for our channel partners here."

Both HP and EDS were revamping their security offerings prior to the acquisition 18 months ago, and the process is now complete, in as much as you can ever say anything is ever done when it comes to security, he says. "We can now provide a truly end-to-end portfolio."

At the heart of the portfolio is the Information Security Service Management Reference Model, which provides the framework, says Ferguson. "The most important thing was the ISSM reference model, so it’s not just point products."

Large organizations can have as many as 200 different security tools in use, and even small companies can have more than 20 up and running at any one time, he says. "Complexity itself becomes a source of insecurity."

The new portfolio integrates a variety of consulting, training and managed security services to address applications, business continuity, content, data integrity, data center, end points, networks, identity and access management, risk management, and security operations.

New offerings include the HP Access Control Printing Solution Suite for mitigating internal threats from unauthorized users and the HP Scanjet Enterprise 7000n Document Management Workstation Series, which provides secure disk erase options and encrypted scan-to-PDF and authentication functionality.

Compliance with standards like HIPPA and PCI are also a growing concern, which is where the HP Business Service Automation (BSA) Essentials Network and the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) certification.come in, says Ferguson. They make managing and reporting on the latest regulatory compliance standards easier. Also new is the HP Enterprise Secure Key Manager which supports a variety of encryption offerings.

"We are giving our customers choice in service delivery. Choice and flexibility are our middle names."

In addition to its own products and services, HP integrates third-party products from best-of-breed vendors like Symantec, McAfee and Oracle and that has value for its channel partners too, says Ferguson. "We’ve done a lot of the pre-integration work."

Spending on security is increasing, if not by as much as previously, he says. "Security is a moving target, not a one-time sort of thing." There are a number of trends driving the market, from the increasing sophistication of cyber criminals and growing complexity to a change in philosophy from a perimeter-based view of security to a data and user group view of security. Ferguson says not all threats are external, so organizations are beginning to shift from build the walls high and keep everybody out to securing data and people.