New Citrix Portal Checks Endpoint Software Configuration

Citrix Systems is introducing the Citrix Endpoint Analysis Portal, which is designed to check desktop computers and other devices for the correct configuration of the software applications they are running. The portal product was developed in partnership with a company called Opswat, which licensed to Citrix its OPSWAT Endpoint Security Integration SDK (OESIS) Framework for ensuring software manageability.

The Endpoint Analysis Portal is a free tool for users of the Citrix Access Gateway appliance, which controls access to applications in an SSL VPN environment. Also available free to Access Gateway customers is an endpoint posture assessment (EPA) scan for catching malware.

According to an Opswat news release, Malware Scanner Free watches for key loggers, viruses and other threats prior to a network, Web or server log-in. Opswat also sells Malware Scanner Pro, which offers more security features, as an upgrade from the free product.

Citrix's licensing of the Opswat technology in September 2010 may have helped Citrix improve its rankings in the Gartner Research "Magic Quadrant for SSL VPN" vendors, which was released last month. "Citrix belatedly licensed the technology from Opswat (as used by other SSL VPN vendors for years) to bolster Citrix Receiver security checks," Gartner notes.
Citrix placed in the upper-left corner of the SSL VPN quadrant marked for "challengers," but not in the vaunted upper-right quadrant marked "leaders."

The industry leaders in SSL VPN security, according to Gartner, are Juniper Networks and Cisco Systems. The report states that many customers didn't consider Citrix to be a network infrastructure vendor, while others considered Citrix for VPN technology because they already had an investment in Citrix's XenApp on-demand application delivery solution.Companies identified as "visionaries" include Microsoft, F5 Networks, SonicWall and CheckPoint, while smaller firms identified as "niche players" include AppGate, Array Networks and Sangfor Technologies. Gartner anticipates that global SSL VPN equipment revenue will rise at a compound annual growth rate of just over 10 percent between 2009 and 2014.

SSL VPN security is priced on the number of "concurrent sessions" on a given network, Gartner explains. Although it described SSL VPN as a mature market, pricing can still vary widely.

In the market for smaller installations that can handle 99 or fewer sessions at one time, pricing starts at $8 per session but is a median of $44 and an average price of $95. Installations in the 5,000-session range start at less than $1 per session, but a median price of $21 and an average price of $28. The 5,000-session pricing ceiling is $81. The pricing information is based on responses from 15 vendors who participated in Gartner's survey.