CSMS is a very interesting platform. It's built from the ground up to provide integration between its various components.

Integrated security will absolutely be a trend. In fact, I would go so far as to argue that if you don't have integrated security inside the next three years, you will be relegated to commodity infrastructure competition.

The new SSL VPN functionality also comes with a price. SSL VPN is no longer a free feature on Cisco platforms; instead, it is now a licensed feature. Cisco also introduced Anti-X services for the ASA-5500 platform via a new content security module on the ASA platform. However, this functionality is mutually exclusive of Cisco's advanced IDS support, diminishing the competitive impact in the highly competitive UTM market.

The SSG gives Juniper a high performance and highly flexible platform to challenge competitors in the security/unified threat management market, while opening up opportunities to compete for business in branch office environments where customers are revisiting the concept of converged data and security, competing head-to-head with Cisco's Integrated Services Routers.

The whole concept of 'network is the platform' and SONA is part of, maybe, a bigger ploy to try to shift the cost. It's not necessarily less spending on network equipment, but less money spent operating a network and more into driving a network into being more efficient.

One of the primary difficulties in deploying WLAN technology in branch offices and retail stores is the lack of onsite IT expertise to manage the network. In order to be successful, branch and retail WLAN solutions must deliver several capabilities; strong centralized management, wide-ranging integrated functionality for security and voice, a highly reliable implementation, and competitive pricing for cost-effective deployment to a large number of sites. Aruba's new additions to the Mobile Edge portfolio meet all of these needs.