While RSA 2013 is still going on, I thought now is a good time for me to write some thoughts and impressions about the first two days of the event. Truth be told, day one was just a few hours, but day two was a lengthy event where we got to spend considerable time with customers, prospects and other vendors at the expo hall. Here are my key takeaways from the event:
1. According to attendees, this is both one of the biggest RSAs ever and one of the best security shows they have been to. That’s not surprising given the growth in the number of security incidents. In fact, according to the recent Verizon report on Data Breaches, there were 855 reported incidents in 2012 comprising some 174,000,000 records. That’s a lot of customer data being lost. Organizations (both customers and vendors) clearly know they need to beef up security to stem this tide which is why they are all here.
2. While some may see security as a tad boring, vendors are going all out to get attention. In the last 24 or so hours I have seen:
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- Darth Vader
- Something that I thought was a statue of a split between Darth Vader and a Cylon. Turned out to be a real person and startled me when it moved.
- Network gear submersed under water to show how tough it is.
- And a woman being cut in half (See image to the right. Truth be told, this was at our booth – Dell Quest Identity and Access Management – booth #2053).
- Darth Vader
3. Lastly, I had a fascinating conversation with a delegate from a large oil and gas company searching for adaptive authorization and authentication – you know, where a user’s authentication and authorization changes based on any number of factors – the application being requested, time of day, location. Pretty cutting edge stuff.
In addition, Dell is making quite a splash at this event. First, Dell SonicWALL launched its SuperMassive 9000. It’s an entirely new product tuned for the large enterprise that needs…wait for it…security at superfast speeds. Moreover, Dell SecureWorks, the MSP arm of Dell, simultaneously announced its support for the 9000 in its data centers. It’s almost like they worked together on this stuff.
Not to be outdone, Dell Quest launched the Quest One Privileged Access Suite for Unix which combines several Unix tools for privileged account management into a single console. Who would have thunk it? Great tools, tighter security, single console, more efficiency – all in a single thingy. More chocolaty genius wrapped in awesomeness.
So if you are concerned about security (and who isn’t) and want to find ways to leverage that investment to make your business better – and you happen to be at RSA – then visit Dell Quest at booth 2053 to see the future of Identity and Access Management.