While some might consider the title a bit strong - it’s interesting that for the second time this year, we find ourselves offering a Competitive Upgrade Program. First, it was the now defunct High Tower software and then came this week’s possible demise of Cisco MARS.The industry buzz regarding Cisco’s decision to pull back on MARS development only confirmed what many have been saying for quite some time - that there’s been no visible sign of major development or innovation for MARS in years. Cisco’s apparent decision to freeze support for non-Cisco devices suggests that customers must either adopt an “all Cisco” environment (no doubt replacing other best of breed products) or accept that their SIEM coverage will have significant holes. While these holes might not be apparent immediately, they’ll certainly become evident as products evolve or new, unsupported products are purchased.
With thousands of systems deployed, Cisco did the SIEM market a significant service. They clearly demonstrated that SIEM is a product with mass market appeal, and perhaps more importantly that SIEM is a cornerstone technology, that will eventually be as commonplace in networks as the firewall or the router. Of course, there is ultimately more to success than a famous name, a world-renowned sales channel and aggressive bundling deals. As Philippe Kahn said a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far, away), “If business is war, then the software business is global thermonuclear war.” To put it another way, this is a business in which you innovate or die.
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