TippingPoint Trucks On

As the dust settles following 3Com Corp.'s (Nasdaq: COMS) purchase of TippingPoint Technologies Inc., rivals are positioning themselves to gain market share off the back of the acquisition.

The $430 million deal is a key part of 3Coms effort to bolster its enterprise product portfolio. TippingPoint is widely acknowledged as one of the trailblazers in the VOIP security space (see 3Com Takes TippingPoint and 3Com's Enterprise Challenge).

But rivals are waiting to pounce should anything go wrong during the integration of the two firms. Jon Rabinowitz, senior marketing and communications manager at Radware Ltd. (Nasdaq: RDWR), warns that when companies get acquired they can often be thrown off track until all the restructuring is completed. “We’re looking at that acquisition as providing a window of opportunity for us to grow market share in the ISP [Internet service provider] space,” he says.

Sharon Besser, director of security solutions at rival Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP), agrees that big M&As often present an opening for competitors. “Usually a new acquisition brings turbulence to a company,” he says.

However, Ged Fitzgerald, marketing VP at TippingPoint, promises that the company will keep its eye on the ball. “The ownership of the [customer] accounts is still in the hands of the same sales force,” he says. “Customers are of paramount importance, regardless of what is going on within the company.”So, how much reorganization is going on? TippingPoint is operating as a division of 3Com. Fitzgerald confirms that TippingPoint will keep its Austin, Texas, headquarters, and he rules out the possibility of job losses. On the contrary, he says, the 125-employee firm is looking to expand headcount. “If anything, there are going to be more additions to the team." Although he won't provide specific numbers, Fitzgerald says that areas such as sales, marketing, and engineering will all grow.

However, the branding for the company’s popular line of UnityOne devices will disappear on March 1.

A major part of the challenge faced by the two companies is reconciling their different market strategies. TippingPoint’s direct sales force has traditionally targeted Fortune 1000 firms, whereas 3Com has primarily gone after the Fortune 2000.

Fitzgerald predicts TippingPoint will bring 3Com into the Fortune 1000 while the deal extends his company’s global reach. There is already training under way for both firm’s sales teams, he notes.

However, the exec is less forthcoming on TippingPoint’s post-acquisition product roadmap, although he promises an announcement before the second half of the year.But what about 3Com? Are we likely to see more deals like this as the company shakes off its image as a manufacturer of consumer products? Ken Pappas, the firm’s senior security strategist, won't rule it out. “For us to go forward in our strategy, we need to own certain intellectual property,” he says. “If it makes sense, you are most likely to see more acquisitions over time.”

Earlier this week TippingPoint made its first post-acquisition product launch, unveiling a new high-end IPS device, the 5000E (see TippingPoint Pushes 5-Gig Protection).

— James Rogers, Site Editor, Next-Gen Data Center Forum