There's no question that firewalls are a key weapon in the IT arsenal. From a business perspective, the case for purchasing the right firewall for the job at hand is simple: Downtime costs money. Lost data costs money. A hacked site . . .
There's no question that firewalls are a key weapon in the IT arsenal. From a business perspective, the case for purchasing the right firewall for the job at hand is simple: Downtime costs money. Lost data costs money. A hacked site that makes your company look idiotic can cost you mind share and brand credibility. But just as the amount of barbed wire or the number of dead bolts you install depends on the area to be protected, you have to pick the right firewall for the task.

We've seen it again and again: As technology product categories mature, they become more specialized. Firewalls are no different. They are applications that must be deployed and must be managed, monitored and maintained, just like any other application.

Why an application? Because one firewall does not fit all needs. A wide range of desktop firewalls is available, hosting providers can purchase collocated or SOHO firewalls, and enterprises can provide significant improvement in reliability with high-availability firewalls. A hosted environment needs firewalls that can be managed separately and provide high-availability features. SOHO (small office/home office) firewalls that an MSP (managed service provider) would deploy require strong multiunit/multicustomer management. The same technology, in some cases the same products, should be selected and deployed based on specific needs.

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