Swivel changes its message
Tokenless authentication vendor admits its preoccupation with its patented technology had held it back
Swivel Secure is repositioning itself as the tokenless authentication market's most versatile protaganist after admitting its preoccupation with its unique PINsafe technology had cost it sales.
Swivel, which offers a raft of mobile phone-based authentication solutions, has traditionally led every pitch with PINsafe, its patented one-time code extraction protocol. It also offers a browser-based solution similar to that of GrIDsure, which went under last year before its intellectual property was acquired by CryptoCard – which has itself since been gobbled up by SafeNet.
According to Gartner, the authentication market was worth $2bn (£1.3bn) in 2011 and is growing at 30 per cent annually. The market watcher said Swivel offers the broadest range of delivery options in the space.
Despite this, Chris Russell, vice president of technology at the UK-based firm, admitted that Swivel's 20 to 30 resellers had been held back by its overemphasis on PINsafe.
"[PINsafe] is a big part of our business but we felt we were losing business in the me-too space as people associated us with just that solution," he said.
"We had all these solutions but were not talking about it in a clear enough way for our channel partners to go out and sell them."
Other authentication methods Swivel customers can choose include being sent six digits via SMS, Russell said.
"The first engagement we had with potential customers was to try to explain this one-time code extraction process," said Russell. "Now we are saying, if you have an authentication requirement, we can meet it in a number of ways."
According to Gartner, by 2017, more than half of enterprises will choose a cloud-based service as the delivery option, up from 10 per cent today.
Grahame Smee, managing director of Cohort, said: "It is easy to miss the breadth of products Swivel has. It gives an additional levle of security, regardless of the structure of anyone's network."