Firewall Wizards mailing list archives
RE: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal
From: "Waszak, Tom" <Tom.Waszak () connect xerox com>
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 14:33:47 -0500
Ummm... me thinks you are overeacting a shade...
Maybe.. maybe not.. What... me.... a security guy overreacting to something?
So you as a professional, senior consultant in IT security will make
decisions based upon whether or not a vendor uses hyperbole or not when describing the success of it's products? Hyperbole will not affect my decisions regarding technology or products. The success of a product will be assessed by it's own merit and the vendors ability to support their product. Hyperbole will affect how I am or am not going to cultivate, approach, grow, and or handle a vendor relationship. Other factors include perceived integrity, product, and what they have to bring to the table.
That sounds pretty harmless to me... and as a finalist in the competition,
the new Gauntlet obviously won some votes... Point taken... It was not harmless when two NAI regional managers told me to my face (at two separate meetings) that Gauntlet had won best of show.
You really don't like NAI, do you?
Here's the deal: When vendors approach me to talk about building a business, when they want something from me i.e.: my money, my time, my resources, access to my customer base, the ability to say we are partnered with so and so, I expect them to be straight shooters.
Personally I believe that regardless of marketese, good products are
fundamentally good products regardless of the marketing ability or inability of the vendor. The real important people are the engineers and technical directors who make the products in the first place - forget the hyperbole and let's take a look at the technology. I agree 100% with you. Unfortunately most people, including many engineers and especially technical directors, make most of their decisions based upon vendor claims and hyperbole. Forgive my blasphemy, the real important people are not the engineers or necessarily the technical directors. The real important people are the ones who make the decisions of whether or not to implement, what to implement, how to implement, and how much they are going to pay. Typically in corporate America, most of these people do not have the time nor the expertise to make a decision based upon anything but hyperbole. Go ahead and ask your average technical director to describe the pluses and minuses of employing a application level gateway over stateful packet inspection (or vice versa). In a way it's a good thing for most of us, it's what keeps us employed. However, it's a bad thing if we can't get to them and educate them. It's also not good for quality security products. I don't believe the best product prevails, I believe the crappiest product with the best marketing does. BTW: I don't necessarily mean that all NAI products are crap. -----Original Message----- From: Christopher Nicholls [mailto:chrisn () softway com au] Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 1998 02:02 To: firewall-wizards () nfr net Subject: Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal At 06:43 PM 09/11/98 -0500, Waszak, Tom wrote: >*Note: I do not work for any security product vendors. Also note that >these are my opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of my >employer Xerox Connect* > >The LAN Times and Data Communications sponsored "Best of Show Networld + >Interop '98" has been a major marketing coup for NAI. If you read their >press release (http://www.nai.com/about/news/press/1998/october/102898.asp
<http://www.nai.com/about/news/press/1998/october/102898.asp> ) it would
>lead you to believe that they actually won the Best of Show Award in the >"Network Security and IP Tools" category. It is nothing more than a >wonderful example of creative writing and word play. <SNIP> Ummm... me thinks you are overeacting a shade... The comment on NAI's own Web-site was: "Network Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: NETA) today announced that its Gauntlet Firewall was honored in the prestigious 1998 Best of Show awards at last week's NetWorld+Interop show in Atlanta. Gauntlet Firewall, widely respected as the industry's most secure firewall, was honored as Best-of-Show finalist in the Network Security and Performance category." That sounds pretty harmless to me... and as a finalist in the competition, the new Gauntlet obviously won some votes... >I have contact with all the major firewall vendors. All are prone to slight >exaggeration about their products. It's the nature of the business. >However, I have noticed that NAI has developed a pattern that really makes >me wonder whether or not they....well I won't say...draw your own >conclusions. I will say this: Integrity is important in any vendor >relationship. I need to know that the people I talk to are telling me the >truth and can call a spade a spade. If a vendor can't do that I don't want >to deal with him or her. Hmmm...I wonder how many NAI product >recommendations I'll make in the future? So you as a professional, senior consultant in IT security will make decisions based upon whether or not a vendor uses hyperbole or not when describing the success of it's products? > >Here's something you could do if your really bored...call your local NAI rep >and ask them if Gauntlet won best of show. You really don't like NAI, do you? Personally I believe that regardless of marketese, good products are fundamentally good products regardless of the marketing ability or inability of the vendor. The real important people are the engineers and technical directors who make the products in the first place - forget the hyperbole and let's take a look at the technology. Kind regards Christopher ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Christopher A. Nicholls ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Softway Pty Ltd ACN: 002 726 641 Canberra Branch Office: Suite 1.3, Dickson Park Professional Centre 151 Cowper Street, Dickson ACT 2602 PO Box 923, Dickson ACT 2602 Ph: +61 2 6257 0666 Fax: +61 2 6257 0665 E-mail: chrisn () softway com au Mob: 0414 454 755 WWW: http://www.softway.com.au ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current thread:
- NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Waszak, Tom (Nov 10)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Joseph S D Yao (Nov 10)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Christopher Nicholls (Nov 11)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Andy Smith (Nov 11)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Frederick M Avolio (Nov 11)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- RE: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Waszak, Tom (Nov 10)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Joseph S D Yao (Nov 11)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal HASSAN . KARIM (Nov 11)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal cbrenton (Nov 11)
- RE: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Waszak, Tom (Nov 11)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Dale Lancaster (Nov 12)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Frederick M Avolio (Nov 12)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Dale Lancaster (Nov 12)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Frederick M Avolio (Nov 12)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Paul D. Robertson (Nov 12)
- Re: NAI Guantlet "Best of Show Award" The Real Deal Frederick M Avolio (Nov 12)