Forescout Introduces NAC-as-a-Service Platform for Managed Service Providers
Rapid On-boarding, Non-disruptive Deployment and Flexible Packaging
Enable Managed Services Success and Savings
Cupertino, Calif. — November 1, 2011 — Forescout Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of automated security control solutions for Fortune 1000 enterprises and government organizations, today introduced its award-winning CounterACT network access control (NAC) solution as a cloud platform targeting hosted and managed service providers (MSPs).
Forescout’s CounterACT platform, proven in hosted and private cloud environments, enables service providers to extend their security portfolio with necessary deployment and service level confidence. As a result, mid-tier, large and government enterprises can extend defenses and automate policy-based controls while optimizing security expertise and capital expenditure.
Industry analysts forecast the rapidly developing Managed Security Services (MSS) market to reach over $8 billion by 2015, driven by small-to-medium enterprises and large organizations seeking to reduce operational risks, better utilize limited security resources and lower costs.
Network access control (NAC) and network-based endpoint security (NES) solutions offerings have eluded the service provider mainstream due to deployment limitations, operational disruptions and service complexity. Most approaches have infrastructure restrictions, agent management and enforcement overhead, long implementation cycles and heavy capital commitments – all of which impact success and add costs for both the service provider and their customers.
“IT organizations are coping with growing demand for greater and more varied access to network resources while at the same time managing the inherit risks of personal and mobile devices in their enterprise. NAC solutions offers the authenticated control, endpoint compliance and mobile security functions needed to address these issues,” said Robert Ayoub, global program director in Frost & Sullivan’s information and communications technology practice. “We believe Forescout’s NAC deployment and management advantages as well as service provider packaging assure MSPs greater opportunity to successfully deliver NAC-as-a-Service.”
“Given the regulatory compliance issues affecting the industry today, along with an ever-increased requirement for accountability, the need to have visibility of network assets and strict control of access to network resources and information has become a fundamental requirement critical to business continuity and success,” said Ade Omotomilola, head of managed services at Axial Systems. “Forescout CounterACT represents a highly valued offering within our portfolio of network and security solutions to meet these needs.”
“Network access control and endpoint compliance are vital components of a layered defense model to assure secure and authorized network connectivity,” said Oscar Perez, manager of IT Services at DTXT, in Mexico. “Our customers have had great success with Forescout CounterACT and we are pleased to offer the solution, which complements our portfolio of managed services.”
With Forescout, MSPs benefit from:
- Broad service capabilities, non-disruptive implementation, management ease and faster time-to-value – which is equally compelling for their clients
- Greater purchase flexibility, with monthly pricing, tiered discounts and on-demand license expansion options
- Additional marketing and implementation materials to streamline prospecting and service development
- A more agile and integrated solution that does not require agents or 802.1x managed endpoints and offers full interoperability to work in even the most demanding environments – no need to alter or upgrade the customer’s network or security infrastructure
- Service-ready, with a built-in and customizable array of device identification and auto-classification capabilities with extensible network access, endpoint compliance, guest networking and threat prevention security policies
“IT organizations seek the speed, expertise, resources and predictable expenditure advantages that managed security service providers can offer, but until now, did not have enough confidence to consider NAC as a managed service,” said Gord Boyce, CEO at Forescout. “Forescout CounterACT’s proven combination of real-time agentless visibility, automated control and integrated functionality, combined with superior manageability and aggressive MSP packaging makes NAC as a service not only viable, but one that can deliver accelerated results for both service provider and their customers.”
Forescout invites its channel partners and service providers to explore the CounterACT MSP platform at www.forescout.com/msp. CounterACT delivers real-time visibility and automated security controls with fully integrated capabilities for guest networking, network access control, mobile security, endpoint compliance and threat prevention. Other capabilities include:
- Flexibility: can be deployed, managed and scaled-out on-premise and off-premise, and comes in a wide range of physical and virtual appliance models to enable immediate deployment with the means to readily scale-out
- Easy to manage: service providers leverage an intuitive, roles-based administrative console, which is complemented by a web portal and robust, customizable reporting
- Scalability: CounterACT Enterprise Manager, delivered as a physical or virtual appliance, not only manages multiple distributed CounterACT appliances, but also offers centralized policy management, security intelligence and dynamic remediation to more than 250,000 endpoints
- Interoperability: CounterACT integrates with broad network and security infrastructure and popular external management and security systems such as those from BMC, HP ArcSight and McAfee to streamline customer on-boarding
About Forescout Technologies, Inc.
Forescout enables its customers to unleash the full power of their network through enterprise-class security and control. Forescout’s automated solutions for network access control, mobile security, threat prevention and endpoint compliance empower organizations to gain access agility while preempting risks and eliminating remediation costs. Because Forescout security solutions are easy to deploy, unobtrusive, intelligent and scalable, they have been chosen by more than 1,000 of the world’s most secure enterprises and military installations for global deployments spanning 37 countries. Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Forescout delivers its solutions through its network of authorized partners worldwide.