I am hanging out today at Software 2006, the reference event of the enterprise software market organized by MR Rangaswami from the Sand Hill Group. It is interesting for me to listen to presentations from players from my previous ecosystem – enterprise systems – as they recognise the importance and the need to take into account the implications of Web 2.0 – a consumer phenomena.
Mark Bregman comes on stage to talk about Symantec plans, and the Dilemna of Innovation. Mark is the former CTO of Symantec, he used to hold the same responsibility at Veritas before its acquisition by the security giant.
The Dilemna of Innovation (that Clayton Christensen made famous under the Innovator’s Dilemna) is the virtuous circle of startups/upstarts challenging established players in a given market:
> Become a leader through innovation and displace incumbents by acquiring their customers
> Become the number one player in your space > Stop innovating
> Watch upstarts displace you
> Repeat
Large industry players, particularly Symantec, have been using acquisitions as a way to bring innovation and talent in an ecosystem. This is easier said than done when one considers the challenges - both products and organizational - involved in integrating acquired companies. The side effect is that core groups, inside the corporation, tend to feel devalued because they never are the "latest, greatest, coolest" thing.
Symantec has introduced the notion of "Advanced Concepts" in their organization, creating a startup mentality from within, in order to develop innovative projects engaging with pilot customers that are willing to take the risk of deploying "startup quality" software. The first application of that notion is the "Symantec Database Security and Audit" that was implemented by a small team of 15 people, engaging with ten clients. The product groups would have taken 2/3 years to release the functionality. The Advanced Concepts team took a few month to implement it to a point clients could deploy it.
Mark predicts that large software players have to prepare for the next shift in computing, perhaps less technology led than business and social, due to these forces of change:
- Continued commoditization of hardware
- Broadband is now considered ubiquitous
- Power is shifting to users
- “The world is flat” yak yak yak (meaning Globalization is upon us).
Mark’s challenge: Figure out what Web 2.0 means to Symantec and the industry it is the leader of: Protection. Protection of machines, Protection of information (against malicious attacks, corruption, loss, etc.). The next level for Symantec is the Protection of interactions – including social ones – in what they refer to as Security 2.0.
Security 2.0: Delivering Trust Online
- Establish trust between parties – ensure that “you are you, and they are they”
- Expand beyond protecting the infrastructure and information, to protecting relationships
- Enabled via a combination of client-side technologies, on-line infrastructure and key partnerships
I would have loved for Mark to comment on the latter, especially what sort of relationships or partnerships he foresees happening with consumer Web 2.0 companies as they become widely used in the enterprise. The first batch of technology will be related to content management and self-publishing (blogs, wikis, etc.), as well as identity systems. This is a topic I covered a few weeks ago in a panel I moderated with a focus on Collaboration, and I will pick up again with a broader scope in this IBDNetwork event: What Web 2.0 Means for the Enterprise.
Tags: software2006, security, markbregman, symantec
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