SI Rants's blog

That is a legitimate question, and one I've given a lot of thought to before I started Security Incite.

Since I left META Group in 1998, the entire technology research business has been beset by mediocrity, especially the security sector. Since the Gartner "IDS is dead" position almost 4 years ago, analysts have shied away from taking strong, controversial opinions in this market. Who is providing perspective that security is too complex or that customers don’t need another security appliance? Who is questioning the significant economics being spent on compliance-oriented technology or stating that some of the new "architectures" are over-reaching and borderline delusional? These are messages the user community needs to hear and the analyst community has not stepped up to provide that guidance.

The catalyst for the formation of Security Incite was the Gartner/META acquisition. By removing the only other truly user-centric technology research company, Gartner now has monopoly pricing power and little, if any, competition to challenge their positions or their market position. That being said, our goal is not to create another Gartner. It’s to get technology research back to its roots – objective and user-centric.

Another goal is to provide world class analysis to the mid-market companies that cannot afford to spend $50,000 with the research monoliths every year. These companies have different, but just as significant, problems as the largest enterprises. At this point, they have no one but their VARs to rely on. By providing reasonably priced and actionable research – we believe the mid-market is a large growth opportunity for technology research.

Hi, I'm Mike Rothman, the President and Principal Analyst of Security Incite. I'll be the main contributor (for now) to the SI Rants blog.

The goal of Rants is to inform, educate, and provide a unique (and at times controversial) perspective on the information security business. There is a lot of noise out there and most folks have a hard time figuring out what is important. Our job is to help you understand, focus your efforts, and ultimately provide a more secure working environment for you and your company.

We'll generally have three kinds of posts:

1. Incite Starter - intended to question the status quo, or slay some sacred security cow to start a dialog within the security community
2. Incite News Analysis - thoughts on recent announcement or industry happenings
3. Incite Announcement - announcing new site functionality, white papers, speaking gigs or resources

I hope you enjoy the SI Rants Blog and if you have any issues, feel free to contact me via e-mail: rants (at) securityincite.com