In an era in which trade shows are fast becoming a dying breed, Infosecurity seems to be on a different plain to its competitors. It is getting stronger and more popular as each year goes by.

Held at London’s Olympia exhibition centre, the conference is notoriously busy with a seemingly endless number of vendors eager to pitch their products and strategies, and a constant stream of delegates wandering round the main hall, sweating under the immense overhead illumination.

However, if the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) latest report is to be believed, Infosec is in for a rosy future.

The DTI Information Security Breaches Survey 2006, which was co-written by accountancy firm Price-waterhouseCoopers (PwC), questioned more than 1,000 UK companies of varying sizes. It claimed that 87 per cent of large businesses had experienced at least one security incident in the last year, compared with just 32 per cent in 1998. Similarly 84 per cent of firms questioned have experienced at least one premeditated and malicious incident, compared with 18 per cent in 1998.

According to PwC, small firms in the UK have seen security breaches increase by 50 per cent because they only invest between four and five per cent of their annual IT budget on security (in two-thirds of cases less than one per cent of budget is spent on security). Larger companies have brought down the cost of security breaches by 50 per cent, and invest between six and eight per cent of their annual IT budget on security.

So with this obvious opportunity to push their various security solutions, it is no wonder that vendors squeeze into the exhibition hall at Olympia to try and showcase their wares to the thousands of delegates that flock to the event. It was too early to calculate precisely how many attendees went to the event over the three days as CRN went to press, but early estimates put it at about 11,000, with more than 3,000 of those from the channel.

Wendy Hoey, product group manager e-security division at Unipalm, said the event was a good opportunity to catch up with old colleagues and find out the latest industry gossip.

“Infosec is a good opportunity for us to see existing and new players in the marketplace,” she said. “It gives us a chance to network and see people to find out who has gone where.

“Everybody in the security market is doing similar things, but coming to these events allows us to see different products in development and keep up with what is new to the market.”

It is not just smaller, start-up firms and niche security players that attend Infosec. Big guns such as Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle and Citrix were among the 300-plus exhibitors. As well as launching a raft of new products, most vendor exhibitors were keen to talk about their channel strategy.

John Lee, chief executive of Clearswift, which unveiled plans to launch software, appliance and managed service versions of its Mimesweeper technology enhanced with anti-spyware capabilities over the coming year, said the firm’s success was down to the channel.

“We are completely channel centric and our partners receive a good margin from our products, unlike some vendors that encourage them to compete on price,” he said. “We have just finished our last financial year and done very well, but this year we are investing even more in marketing and are focusing on driving awareness through partners and the channel.”

Lee said Clearswift’s channel partners had “made it clear” that blended threats were the way forward.

“Blended threats are above the Unified Threat Management market and partners need more sophisticated products. That is what we are providing with our latest product launch,” he claimed.

“Our focus is retaining pounds for the channel and that means we work with perhaps a smaller number of partners than some vendors, but we work very closely with them.”

Secure Computing, which merged with CyberGuard last March (CRN, 27 March, 2005) recently cut its distribution (CRN, 10 April) to simplify its channel strategy.

Stuart Rauch, director of product marketing at Secure Computing – which launched several new products at the event last week including its Safeword SecureWire identity and access management appliance, and version 3.2 of its Global Command Centre – said that the channel was key to its success.

“We are a 100 per cent channel-focused company and it is our aim to be a $1bn company by 2010,” he said. “There is a lot of growth happening in the market sector at the moment. We intend to bring out plenty of new technology and push it through the channel.”

Enterprise security management vendor Arcsight used the event to announce its channel expansion plans.

Jonathan Cooper, director of bus-iness development at Arcsight, said the firm is looking to sign high-end resellers and system integrators with a proven track record in the IT security market-place.

“We are targeting partners with expertise in both commercial and public sector markets across the EMEA region,” he said. “In the past, customers were focused on security at the firewall, intrusion detection/prevention levels. However, they are now looking for an overarching security management strategy, and a solution to implement the strategy. We want partners with the skills and knowledge to help them.”

Thin client vendor Citrix hailed its channel recruitment drive as a success at Infosec. According to Citrix, more than 2,000 new pan-European VARs have joined its partner programme to sell its access infrastructure solution specifically tailored to smaller businesses.

“Citrix Access Essentials gives resellers the opportunity to work with smaller companies who want secure remote access to applications that are vital for doing business,” said Kevin Bland, channel director for Citrix UK and Ireland.

Similarly, managed security services vendor BlackSpider announced a partner drive at the show, to match what it claimed was its “rapid growth in the last 12 months”.

The vendor currently has 21 resellers and four service provider partners, but is looking for 10 to 15 additional UK channel partners over the next six months, particularly those with expertise in the pharmaceutical, legal and finance markets.

Ian Moyse, channel director at BlackSpider, said: “The managed security services sector is growing at 44 per cent a year, so this is a lucrative space for resellers.”

Microsoft also revealed it was looking to recruit security focused resellers to join its partner programme.

Mike Pallot, Microsoft channel development manager for security said: “The security market grew from $16.9bn in 2001 to $27.4bn in 2004. Yet few of the largest IT vendors are able to offer off-the-shelf integrated security solutions. In that respect, there is a huge opportunity for VARs.

“By adding the Microsoft Partner Programme’s security competency, VARs can ensure they are equipped to build momentum through security sales,” he added. “This can increase their revenues from sales of other Microsoft technologies, thereby boosting their overall profitability.”

Unfortunately, there is not enough room to mention every vendor at the show, but when the hype dies down it will be up to vendors and resellers to chase all those prospective clients and turn them into qualified leads.