Small and medium-size companies last year spent more money on hardware-based firewall appliances than on software-based systems, helping WatchGuard Technologies Inc. remain in the No. 1 position in the most competitive segment of the firewall market, according to a new analyst report.
The study by IDC, "Return of the Black Box: Firewall/VPN Security Appliances Unleashed," concludes that for the first time, firewall appliance revenue last year surpassed software-based firewall revenue, coming in at $942.8 million. Framingham, Mass.-based IDC is a subsidiary of International Data Group, which publishes Computerworld.
In addition, Seattle-based WatchGuard won the top slot in the $1,000-to-$5,000 firewall appliance market -- the "sweet spot" in the market, according to IDC -- for the second year in a row. The company captured a 23% market share and earned $60.7 million in worldwide revenue.
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