This security vendor is looking for ISP partners to sell its SMB all-in-one Linux-based security-plus-more service, offering ISPs a cut of the substantial monthly service fee.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [June 3, 2004]

El Segundo, Calif.-based ClearPath Networks offers an integrated security device, the SNAP VPN, for a cheap up-front purchase price but a relatively steep monthly fee.

At $595, the device looks like a steal, but at $49 per user per month, the continuing service is not cheap.

The company says that there's no comparable product on the market, meaning that there's no device that provides all the features that SNAP VPN has, which include:

• VPN
• Anti-virus
• Firewall
• Intrusion detection and prevention
• Content filtering
• Network management
• Automatic updates
• Automatic provisioning

The monthly fee pays for additional services maintained by ClearPath, including:

• Online trouble tickets
• 24x7 technical support
• 1 year hardware warranty
• Software warranty for the life of the service
• Auto updates
• Unlimited firewall rule changes

The product is designed for businesses with 250 to 500 employees, which the company considers SMBs (but the definition includes relatively large companies).

"We're an SMB," says Gordon Benzie, ClearPath director of marketing. "We have about 35 or 40 employees."

The company is betting that businesses of this size want threat prevention from one company, so that when there's a problem, they can get service.

"The service provider can take advantage of a highly integrated offering to add value," says Ken Fitzpatrick, ClearPath Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). "The ISP becomes a security provider overnight."

The Linux-based appliance uses a combination of proprietary and open source software, except for the anti-virus software, which is licensed from an undisclosed company.

Benzie thinks ISPs will be especially impressed by the auto-provisioning feature. "If I have five locations to hook up together, I just ship the units out, the end user types in an agreed location name. The unit 'calls home' so to speak and sets itself up automatically. There's no install. That's true auto-provisioning."

Benzie also thinks ISPs will like the low up front cost model. "We amortize the price of the unit over twelve months. The Sonicwall model is a big payment every 12 or 24 months."

So ISPs buy the unit—but they don't pay the monthly fees. The customer pays the fees, and the ISPs get a commission, which starts at 8 percent but can rise to 30 percent. The value to ISPs is clear. Some ISP customers, however, may balk at a fee of $8,000 per month for the service (400 employees at $20 per employee per month).

ISPs interested in testing the product should certainly examine the company's claims about its VPN. Benzie says, "one challenge of a secure network has typically been someone calling in from the hotel or airport. With our solution, you can buy 10 or 25 remote licenses and then go into our online interface and sign them out. Just submit it and it's live."

It's all made possible by ClearPath's infrastructure. "We have our own private ATM backbone," Benzie says. "So it's a no-brainer for us to have these network-based services available."

Pricing and availability
The SNAP VPN 1200 and 1400 series are available now. The current models are the 1201, with a 533 MHz processor, and the 1401, with a 1 GHz processor.

Pricing starts at $595 per unit plus a monthly fee of $49 per user per month, with significant discounts on the per user price for volume orders.

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