FORT LEE, N.J., July 7, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Enterprises are increasingly turning to SSL VPNs as a convenient, cost-effective technology to deliver secure remote access to business-critical applications from any browser, market researchers and SSL VPN vendors said.
"SSL will continue to make headway in 2003, a year in which we expect many IPSec vendors to announce plans for SSL-based products," Infonetics Research, Inc. said in a June release.
IPSec VPN vendors, including Check Point, Nortel and Nokia have all announced their entrance into the SSL VPN sector, joining established pure play vendors in the market like Whale Communications.
"By 2005, 74% of mobile workers will use VPNs, up from 59% in 2003; this increase is due in large part to the fact that SSL offers an alternative to IPSec that avoids the headaches of deploying and managing client software," Infonetics Research, Inc. further noted.
SSL VPN market revenue is projected to top $900 million in 2006, Infonetics Research Inc. wrote in an earlier June release.
In addition to ease of deployment and management, market analysts cited the overall cost savings of SSL VPNs as reason for the growth.
"The attraction of SSL VPNs lies in their relative simplicity. They are deployed quickly, do not require highly specialized expertise to install or operate, and have ownership costs that are relatively low and easily monitored," said Dana Hendrickson, president network security market analysis firm, Breakaway Marketing.
In keeping with the research findings, SSL VPN vendors have noted increased sales and interest in their products.
"We have seen double digit quarter-on-quarter growth for seven consecutive quarters," Elad Baron, CEO of Whale Communications said, noting the demand for anywhere access has led prominent companies in the traditional VPN space, like Nokia and Nortel, to release SSL VPN solutions. "We are seeing established companies entering the SSL VPN market. Their entrance provides large-scale enterprises adopting SSL VPNs yet another endorsement of the technology. Until now, competition with these established companies hasn't been an issue but this will undoubtedly change in the future so we are taking their entrance into the space very seriously."
Unlike traditional IPSec VPNs, SSL VPNs do not require any client software, reducing costs while leveraging the ubiquity of SSL embedded web browsers. Enterprises now have the option of giving their executives and employees laptop-free access to corporate applications from essentially anywhere there is an Internet connection, be it from an Internet cafe or kiosk, hotel business center, client site or home computer.
About Whale Communications:
Whale Communications, the leading enterprise-class SSL VPN vendor, is enabling companies to provide employees and partners secure access to corporate data and applications from any web browser. Its award-winning solutions have been securing enterprises worldwide since it was founded in 1998. Privately held, Whale is funded by prominent venture firms and industry leaders, including Goldman Sachs, Soros Private Equity Partners and the BRM Group, the founding investor of Check Point Software Technologies. The company is headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey and has international offices in Israel and Germany.
Whale Communications, e-Gap, Whale and the Whale logo are trademarks of Whale Communications Ltd. All other trademarks are property of their respective holders. For more information about Whale visit: www.whalecommunications.com.