Users Call 'Check' on Check Point

In the firewall and secure VPN space, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (Nasdaq: CHKP) is the proverbial 800 pound gorilla. Its the market leader, which gives it the right to throw its weight around a bit.

Users and analysts, however, say Check Point is over-doing the ape act -- notably in the way it prices some of its products, and in the way its customer support is organized. Resentment is rising and could provide opportunities for competitors such as Juniper Networks Inc. (Nasdaq: JNPR) and Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) to move in on the market.

Jeff Murphy, senior programmer analyst at the University of Buffalo, was a Check Point customer for five years, but has now switched to Juniper/NetScreen. “With Check Point, we were unhappy with the cost and the product performance. Basically, they couldn’t match up against the custom hardware solutions that NetScreen provided.”

Murphy was also frustrated by Check Point’s customer support model. Murphy recalls “unnecessary levels of bureaucracy to get resolution… We had to go through the local reseller first, who couldn’t help us with our questions. And several times I had to have the reseller explain and re-explain their confusing licensing structures to make sure that I had purchased the right product.”

A Check Point spokesperson refutes Murphy’s criticism. "Check Point products are licensed based on the number of users or the number of gateways being secured, so there is nothing complex or tricky about this model, and it is industry standard," he says.Juniper sells directly to customers, rather than using Check Point's OEM method, a strategy applauded by Jon Oltsik of Enterprise Strategy Group. “Juniper’s whole value is simplicity and performance,” he says. “Juniper built its market share in this way by offering an ASIC-based appliance as opposed to Check Point's software implementation. It has since expanded into SSL VPNs when it bought Neoteris.”

Some analysts insist that the future of security is hardware solutions, which could also favor a company such as Juniper over Check Point’s software-based solutions.

However, the real threat to Check Point’s leadership position in market share may be… Check Point, itself. Murphy isn’t alone in his frustration with Check Point. “There's been real concern over pricing, with customers receiving invoices for prices that were much higher than they had expected," says Greg Young, Gartner Inc. research director. "Check Point's pricing has upset some people, and we've found it to be a consistent theme in our research."

— John Papageorge, Senior Editor, Next-Gen Data Center Forum