New HP security group will push services

HP has created a new security group in the UK, gluing together a clutch of acquisitions it has made in the last two years into a single brand selling security services.

Called HP Information Security, the new unit will be spearheaded by UK services outfit Vistorm (acquired by HP in buying EDS in 2008), but also marketing technology from recently-bought HP Enterprise Services businesses, Arcsight, Fortify Software, TippingPoint and HP Labs under one banner.

The company hopes the move will bring enough coherence to a unit that will be taking on security services leaders Symantec and IBM in a sector that is still remarkably fragmented. By HP’s own estimate, even Symantec barely scrapes 6 percent of the global security services market.

It’s such a good idea you wonder why HP hasn’t rolled it out across other regions, though it is possible that in time it will.

“It’s been sporadic, a little bit like a cottage industry,” says new group head, Dan Turner of the fragmented market for security services.

The group’s first act has been to launch a security analytics service, a fancy piece of jargon for tailored consultancy. Aimed at CISOs, the ‘package’ offers to look at an organisation’s Vulnerability and Threat Management (VTM) and Identity and Access Management (IAM).