Synetix gets virtual with Wellington College

Reseller's application of ForeScout's virtual appliance solutions at Wellington College could be "lighthouse account" for the two firms

VAR Synetix has completed a deployment of network security vendor ForeScout's new virtual appliance solution for Wellington College (pictured).

The VAR first deployed ForeScout's CounterACT network access control (NAC) solution at the independent school in Berkshire last April and has just moved 3,000 users across to its new virtual appliance.

Rick Gray, managing director of Synetix, said Wellington College is renowned for its technology pedigree and argued the school could act as a lighthouse account for both firms.

Gray said: "It had a virus on the network and did not know how to pinpoint where it was. We performed a proof of concept with ForeScout, found it immediately, and removed and self-­ remediated it, so it was a done deal from that day forwards.

"The idea of the deployment was for the school to have control over what devices are connected to the network because it has different policies for different dormitories within the organisation."

Scott Gordon, vice president of worldwide marketing at ForeScout, confirmed that Wellington College was the first UK end user to deploy the new virtual appliance, which it has just finished beta testing.

"The virtual appliance's features are identical to the physical appliance, but it gives customers the opportunity to leverage the advantages of consolidation and their investment in VMware," he said.

According to Gartner data cited by the vendor, some 40 per cent of the security controls used with enterprise datacentres will be virtualised by 2015.

ForeScout bills itself as an automated platform vendor with NAC - just one of four areas it serves - alongside threat management, mobile security and end-point compliance.

But Gordon claimed the NAC market, which has been through something of a slump, was returning to rude health.

"I do not know if you remember when Gartner said IPS was dead," he said.

"There were implementation issues but then the products began to prove out and IPS is now the norm. I think the same is true of what is happening with NAC. All the market indicators are now going up."