Websense, NetApp Offer Web Management Tool

Internet security company Websense Inc. and Network Appliance forged a partnership Tuesday that is expected to benefit customers looking for employee Internet management (EIM) software.

The deal matches San Diego-based Websense’s Enterprise v4.3 platform with Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Network Appliance’s content delivery appliances through its ICAP (Internet Content Adaptation Protocol). The protocol enables communication between edge content devices and application servers.

Center-to-Edge solutions are used by ISPs to build content delivery networks (CDNs) that store, manage, and distribute streaming media content to end users at the edges of global networks. Streaming media platform providers, such as Microsoft , are developing next-generation solutions for live and video-on-demand content.

“By choosing Websense and Network Appliance, customers get high-performance content delivery and full-featured employee Internet management — not simplistic porn blocking and limited management options, as with other filtering products on the market,” says Websense vice president of marketing Andy Meyer.

The two companies claim the combo product boosts network performance and security by caching frequently visited Web pages and limiting access to unproductive, bandwidth-intensive content. In addition, business customers would also benefit from a joint caching-EIM solution that provides faster network speeds, improved employee productivity and reduced legal liabilities.

“Customers can’t afford a filtering solution that exposes them to legal liability or fails to scale under stressed network conditions,” says Network Appliance content delivery business unit senior director of marketing and strategic alliances Amit Pandey. “An integrated, secure, content management filtering solution is a critical step in providing customers with more control over their networks. By working with the leading vendor for filtering solutions, NetApp provides customers with a full-featured EIM software package that scales to the size of their networks, provides protection from inappropriate Web content, and saves bandwidth and storage costs.”

The joint solution is expected to include flexible management options, a high-quality Websense master database, transparent identification, bandwidth use reporting and secure and flexible authentication.

The trend for EIM software is growing. The sector is expected to approach $750 million by 2005, according to IDC. Websense plans on being at the forefront with its more than 16,500 customers and 11.2 million pre-paid customer seats.

Neither company provided a rollout schedule or pricing structure for the joint products.