February 17, 2010, 10:01 PM — Brocade and McAfee have announced that they have entered a strategic partnership to deliver a broad set of fully interoperable end-to-end network security solutions. As part of the partnership, Brocade will work in conjunction with McAfee to integrate critical security capabilities into the Brocade family of networking products.
As a part of an open technology architecture approach, Brocade and McAfee are collaborating on a set of jointly designed, interoperable solutions developed specifically to address the network security needs of enterprise customers. The combined Brocade and McAfee network security solutions will include: McAfee Firewall Enterprise and intrusion prevention technologies operating with the Brocade NetIron MLX Series of routers; Firewall scalability with Brocade ServerIron application delivery controllers that load-balance the McAfee Firewall Enterprise technology; controlling and monitoring access to the network with the McAfee Network Access Control (NAC) solution interoperating with Brocade FastIron CX and FastIron WS compact edge switches.
These solutions are being delivered under a new agreement that enables this first phase of a multi-year relationship between the two companies, added the release. The next stage will involve extending the network management integration to further utilize metrics and security intelligence information.
"The ever-changing threat landscape coupled with convergence in the campus LAN arena calls for the integration of best-in-class networking and security products," said Jon Oltsik, Senior Principal Analyst at ESG. "In today's challenging and competitive business climate, enterprises must constantly keep a watchful eye across the entire network infrastructure to preempt a possible attack and be prepared to act if the unexpected occurs."
"Keeping data secure is a battle that must be waged on multiple fronts, especially at the network level," said Dan Ryan, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Network Security Business Unit, McAfee. "Working with Brocade to bring a comprehensive set of network security solutions to market makes perfect sense -- the coupling of the strengths of both companies is expected to deliver a set of solutions that customers can depend on to protect their most valuable data assets."
"Brocade's vision is for network services to enable customers to securely connect anytime from anywhere in a globally competitive marketplace. This vision is becoming a reality through partnerships with top companies like McAfee, with which Brocade has a natural synergy that has culminated in the development of highly reliable, best-of-breed network security solution sets," said Deb Dutta, Vice President, Brocade Asia Pacific. "Recognizing the eventual integration and overlap of security within the network environment, we are taking a proactive approach to offering customers a set of proven solutions that provide greater choice and flexibility in the marketplace."
These solutions are available today through select value-added resellers.
