Call it security in a hurry: An emerging category of managed virtual private network services promises a quick way to implement a virtual private network that uses customers' existing Internet access service.
This week, myCIO.com plans to launch VPN ASaP, a managed virtual private network service designed for small and midsize companies to connect their employees and branch offices securely over the Internet without having to cobble the pieces of the technology together themselves. Arvind Narain, vice president of product management at myCIO, said the service removes the pain of setting up and managing VPNs yourself.
"Our goal is to reduce the time-to-use to close to zero," Narain said. "What makes us different is that we've created a kinder, gentler experience with regard to VPNs."
MyCIO, a subsidiary of Network Associates, will offer three flavors of the VPN ASaP service: secure remote access for individual users, which uses Network Associates' PGP client software; site-to-site VPN connectivity, which includes Netscreen Technologies' firewall appliances; and extranet VPNs. MyCIO's remote access service will have a startup fee of US$12 per desktop, plus US$7 per month; the site-to-site VPN service for a 500-person office will have a startup fee of US$4,500, plus US$1,500 to US$1,600 per month. MyCIO's technicians will monitor the VPN connections around the clock from an operations centre located at Global Crossing's facility in Phoenix.
The company is positioning the new VPN services as another pillar in its security suite, which includes managed firewall, virus scanning and intrusion detection services. "It's not just products and boxed software," Narain said. "Security is evolving to a service model, because you have to keep it fresh - it's a process."
Traditionally, managed VPN services have been available through service providers, such as AT&T and Uunet, which offer secure access in conjunction with their access services. But Jeff Wilson, an analyst at Infonetics Research, said service providers have a potential conflict in promoting VPNs - a situation that opens a window of opportunity for the new managed VPN service providers. "Service providers are still trying to work out internally how VPNs fit into their existing wide area network offerings so they don't cannibalise them," he said. "It may take a separate company to come in and push VPN services."
In any case, managed VPNs are expected to see huge growth. Infonetics expects that managed VPNs will increase from a little more than US$2 billion in 2000 to about US$25.5 billion by 2004, as VPN services eat into traditional leased-line wide-area services like Frame Relay.
