FireMon puts first feet on UK street

Firewall management vendor marks start of 2012 with launch of EMEA operation

Firewall management vendor FireMon is launching a European channel assault after hiring its first heads in the region.

FireMon claims to have more than 40,000 firewalls under management but until now has focused on its native US.

It has marked the start of 2012 by simultaneously hiring five European staff – including three in the UK – to bolster sales on this side of the pond.

Alin Srivastava, vice president of worldwide sales at FireMon, said the aim is to target white space rather than tussle with competitors such as Tufin, Skybox and AlgoSec.

"We have been selling into Europe for quite a while but felt it was the appropriate time to introduce a local team of support, sales and management staff," he explained.

"Everyone in the firewall management space is working collaboratively to educate the market that these solutions are available."

The operations will be spearheaded by EMEA general manager Bernard Zelman, with a wider global expansion drive led by vice president of international sales Steve Martinez.

Kay Bruen, founder of Clipsham IT – which helped FireMon establish the UK team – said it is rare for a vendor to commit this much manpower to a new territory in one go.

"It is fantastic to find a vendor that is prepared to put its money where its mouth is and recognise the level of investment that is required to launch in the UK market," she added.

Robert Civil, regional director UK and Ireland at Tufin, said: "FireMon has never really been a worthy adversary to us in Europe as it did not have a presence here. It was about time it made the investment.

"I agree there is a lot of education to be done in this space. A lot of people do not realise there are tools out there that will automate firewall operations management."