Software-defined security newbie targets UK channel
Catbird scouts for resellers that straddle virtualisation and security spheres
A vendor billing itself as the world's first software-defined security (SDS) outfit is scouting for its first UK partners.
Silicon Valley-based Catbird, which makes security and compliance software for VMware environments, will operate a one-tier channel strategy in Europe after launching a UK office.
Catbird's SDS solution, vSecurity 5.5, is designed to remedy the fact that most traditional physical security devices such as firewalls, intrusion prevention and vulnerability management systems do not work adequately in a virtual datacentre, vice president of marketing Tamar Newberger said.
"We have built the first software-defined security," she added. "We have integrated all these network security devices and bundled them into one software-defined solution. Every bit of network security we do is software, so no one has to buy a $100,000 clunky appliance they have to put in the datacentre that won't work anyway."
Resellers operating both a virtualisation and security practice that are looking to enter a high-growth market top Catbird's partner wish list, Newberger said, particularly those targeting highly regulated industries.
Catbird's European expansion – which will be spearheaded by former Citrix man Pedro Beitra – comes on the heels of a $2m investment from Medina Capital Partners, a VC fund set up by Manny Medina, who sold his cloud service firm Terremark to Verizon for $1.4bn in 2011.
Newberger said Medina had pumped more in since.
"He has taken his earnings and is investing them in companies that have a real opportunity in the secure cloud," she said.
"We have a pretty big European number as part of our global business plan."
Newberger said Catbird, which claims to work with some of the US' top VMware partners, was particularly suited to clients that are in the process of migrating from physical to virtual security.
"They can team up with a partner who understands what this migration looks like so they can stay secure and compliant as they migrate," she said.
The wider software-defined networking market is set to grow from $320m to $2.45bn between 2014 and 2018, according to Gartner.