After years of narrow focus on fighting spam, messaging security vendors are branching out in new directions as corporate customers demand more from them than filtering unwanted e-mail. At the same time, this crowded industry is overripe for consolidation, and experts believe only those companies with the technology and deep pockets to satisfy growing customer demands will be left standing.

Messaging security vendors face a dilemma; they must stay focused on blocking spam, viruses and other nasty code flooding corporate e-mail streams. But as spam and virus blocking become check-list items instead of purchase drivers, vendors looking to stand out are adding new features ranging from encryption and policy enforcement for outbound messages to new product lines that protect communications other than e-mail, such as instant messaging or Web interactions.

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