Exclusive Networks claims NAC is back

Distributor forecasts change in fortunes for ailing NAC market as it signs UK agreement with "second-generation" player NetClarity

Distributor Exclusive Networks has tipped network access control (NAC) technology for a return to form after signing its first vendor in that space.

NetClarity has signed Exclusive Networks as sole UK distributor for its "second-generation" NACWall appliances.

The NAC market imploded in the late noughties, leading to a string of vendor casualties, as end users turned their backs on what was once a hotly tipped market.

However, Exclusive Networks sales director Chris Walsh said the market was set for a second wind as the new wave of solutions hits the market.

"The success of NAC has been mixed as it was costly to implement and people did not quite understand it," Walsh said.

"NetClarity's technology is agentless and has a low cost of implementation, but with the full features of what is needed from a NAC solution. You only have to look at WikiLeaks to realise people need to take control of what has access to their network."

According to Infonetics Research, the NAC market was worth $250m (£154m) before it underwent a meltdown in 2009 as end users were spooked by high implementation costs.

According to Infonetics, the market is set to rebound strongly to $400m by 2014, partly due to improvements in NAC technology.

Walsh said Exclusive Networks has already gauged interest among its partners and has several six-figure deals in the pipeline, including one worth £170,000.

In a statement, NetClarity chief executive Hal Charnley said: "The UK is a key market for NetClarity and we are pleased to be working with Exclusive Networks in bringing the most innovative security product of 2011 into the UK marketplace."