Verizon Business Positioned in Leaders Quadrant Among North American Managed Security Service Providers

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Dec. 9, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Business has been positioned by leading industry analyst firm Gartner in the Leaders quadrant of its 2010 report, "Magic Quadrant for MSSPs, North America."

The report (Gartner Research: "Magic Quadrant for MSSPs, North America," Kelly M. Kavanagh and John Pescatore, November 29, 2010) cites Verizon Business for its completeness of vision and ability to execute in the provision of managed security services.

"As demonstrated by our position in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for MSSPs, North America, we believe that Verizon Business is a respected market leader in information security," said Peter Tippett, vice president of technology and innovation, Verizon Business.  "Beyond our core MSS offerings, we offer customers a sophisticated, varied range of security-as-a-service technologies that can be delivered via the cloud, over our network or at the customer's premises, depending on the individual needs of the customer."

For the purposes of this research, Gartner defines managed security services (MSS) as "the remote management or monitoring of IT security functions delivered via remote SOCs, not through personnel on-site."   In the report, Gartner provides a thorough review of the MSS market, including an analysis of which products are best suited to meet enterprise needs for security monitoring and management.  

According to the report, "in 2009, MSSPs in North America generated revenue of $1.8 billion, representing growth of 24% over 2008 while the number of firewalls and intrusion detection and prevention (IDP) devices under monitoring/management grew more than 20%."  This uptick is driven by four main factors: staffing and budget constraints, evolving compliance reporting requirements, expansion of internet connection points and growing experience with remote services for IT.

The Gartner report identifies several other trends that are impacting the market.  "In addition to the core services of monitoring and managing firewall and intrusion detection systems/intrusion prevention systems (IDSs/IPSs), MSSPs now offer a range of additional managed services."  Additionally, the report predicts that "increased enterprise use of software as a service and the 'consumerization of IT' will lead to more cloud-based security-as-a-service offerings, which will grow faster than the customer-premises-equipment- (CPE-) focused MSSP market in 2H10 and 2011."

Gartner criteria for ability to execute include product/service capabilities, customer experience, market responsiveness and track record, overall viability, market responsiveness and customer experience.  Criteria for completeness of vision include market understanding, offering strategy, business model, innovation, and vertical, industry and geographic strategy.

Verizon Business MSS Offer Enterprises the Complete Package

Verizon Business MSS capabilities are complemented by leading professional security services in the areas of business continuity consulting; forensics and investigative response; governance, risk and compliance; identity management; and threat and vulnerability.  Additionally, Verizon's security portfolio includes governance risk and compliance solutions, data loss and prevention solutions and identity management solutions.

More information on Verizon Business' MSS suite is available by visiting: http://www.verizonbusiness.com/products/security/managed.

About the Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted 2010 by Gartner Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the Leaders quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Verizon Business

Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), is a global leader in communications and IT solutions. We combine professional expertise with one of the world's most connected IP networks to deliver award-winning communications, IT, information security and network solutions.  We securely connect today's extended enterprises of widespread and mobile customers, partners, suppliers and employees – enabling them to increase productivity and efficiency and help preserve the environment.  Many of the world's largest businesses and governments – including 96 percent of the Fortune 1000 and thousands of government agencies and educational institutions – rely on our professional and managed services and network technologies to accelerate their business. Find out more at www.verizonbusiness.com.

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SOURCE Verizon Business