Beyond Convergence

I get dozens of emails each week on "convergence." I gave the keynote address at Security Summit 2007 in Los Angeles and the title of the Summit was: Convergence: The Next Horizon. It is safe to say that convergence is the number one topic in the security field. The industry is experiencing a major transformation. However, the focus on convergence is misplaced. I believe it derives from the perspective that as security devices become network peripherals, security professionals are focused on the point of convergence. The problem with this focus, is that it results in under achieving. Such a focus leads to security devices operating on Ethernet networks and doing providing the same functions as those same devices provided previously, when they were standalone electronic systems. I encourage all security systems manufacturers and integrators to look beyond convergence. This longer-range focus changes the objective from gain equivalent functionality to engineering the network, which means optimizing it, to protect people, facilities, data and prevent fraud. Looking beyond convergence helps expand the context to achieve a higher level of protection by using the benefits that become available through convergence.

Please let me know your thoughts on this topic.