'Security is already a top budget priority with SMEs'

Why should enterprises spend on security in these cost-cutting days? When
there is no e-commerce, where is a security threat?

The number of security threats is increasing significantly, both in terms of
complexity and severity, while the level of knowledge required by a hacker is
going down. All these factors seem to indicate an increased need for security
solutions to protect business-critical infrastructures. Additionally, industry
analyst data indicates enterprise and small-to-medium sized companies rank
security to be a top IT budget priority in these cost-cutting days.

Steve Collen

Do you have a cost-benefit analysis worked out for deploying your
additional security modules?

Cisco’s own internal analysis has shown the cost per secure connection and
cost per megabit secure throughput leads the industry. For companies that
already have Catalyst 6500s deployed, they gain significant operational
efficiencies with new value-added security services, augmenting the rich
portfolio of L2-7 services. Customers looking to purchase the Catalyst 6500 gain
additional investment protection and flexibility with the availability of these
additional security modules.

Are the additional security modules only for Catalyst 6500 or the entire
series of Catalyst switches?

These new modules are available for the 6500 at this time and complement the
existing rich set of security capabilities currently available in the Catalyst
switching software. Cisco plans to extend its Catalyst line with additional
security hardware solutions over time. Cisco has already demonstrated this
hardware acceleration path before on its routing platforms with the availability
of specific security modules.

What is the incremental cost to enterprises, which have already installed
Catalyst 6500, and other Catalyst switches?

Incremental cost is the cost of purchasing each module.

As network security has evolved, many enterprises have probably
implemented a variety of individual security products from different vendors.
Can the Catalyst range be integrated with other competing security products and
what about interoperability?

Integration is made easy with new security service modules because many
enterprises already have Catalyst 6500s installed in their network
infrastructures. The complexity of implementing multi-vendor security solutions
has tended to lead to single or limited vendor deployments.

Nareshchandra Laishram