Is There Life On Cisco’s MARS?
January 3, 2009 by AntivirusWare.Cisco Systems’ MARS, its package for monitoring for threat identification, mitigation, and compliance, competes with the likes of ArcSight, RSA Security and Symantec. Cisco came into the product when it acquired Protego for $65 million in December of 2004.
In 2005 and 2006, Cisco pushed hard to get the product into end users’ accounts. The company intended to get the product out into the market quickly, establish a base, and then add product enhancements over time. The process has hit a speed bump, however.
The product has languished behind competitors’ offerings, causing problems for the installed base. That has allowed aggressive competitors like Enterasys, Juniper, and Nortel to establish partnerships with Q1 Labs in a direct attack on MARS. Mars is under siege on other fronts too. Log management vendors like LogLogic and LogRhythm are creeping up on Cisco with their incremental products.
Within the Cisco ranks, sales execs and channel partners have embraced more popular Cisco products and ignored MARS. When you have a catalogue as deep as Cisco’s, it’s easy to lead with your best stuff and never quite make it much further down the list.
What should Cisco do with MARS? They have a few options: they could double down on MARS development, and catch up with their competitors; they could replace MARS with another acquisition, many of which may be available in this economy, or they can pull the plug, admit defeat, and leave MARS.