Wallix to hold IAM fort from new UK office

Wallix, to hold IAM fort from new UK office

London, 23 february 2010 - Wallix, a specialist in IT security solutions for identity and access management (IAM), has opened an office in Reading (England) in order to launch its activities in the UK. Wallix’s innovative Wallix AdminBastion (WAB) traceability tool allows a company to control connections and record all operations performed on its equipment or IT infrastructure.

Jean-Noël de Galzain, Chief Executive of Wallix, says, “The British market is the major European market and we have decided to develop our business here as a matter of priority. In view of the success already achieved by WALLIX AdminBastion and the growing interest of our clients in the Benelux countries, Switzerland and France, we believe it is time to launch our operations in Great Britain where IT security is – rightly – a critical issue. With an on-site team and a network of professional integrators and dealers with high added value, we will be in a position to maintain a high level of responsiveness and quality in the support of our products – a trademark of WALLIX.”

WALLIX AdminBastion (WAB) is an innovative and secure appliance that combines identity management, access control and traceability of IT operations. In order to launch this product on the British market, WALLIX is opening an office in Reading (in the Thames Valley, west of London).

Juliette Lacoste, WALLIX EMEA Partners Manager, will run the team based in Reading and will lead the company’s network of partners. She confirms, “The specificity and the potential of the British market necessitate the establishment of a local site with dedicated resources, which is now in place. Today, the team is ready to take up the challenge of access control and traceability, along with our technical and commercial partners. We have already identified 50 WAB projects, which constitutes a first and highly motivating challenge for the company.”

In the UK, WALLIX uses an indirect sales strategy, as it does in France, where the company has partnership agreements with international groups such as Alcatel-Lucent and Integralis. WALLIX is actively recruiting commercial partners in the UK, and is focusing on renowned integrators specialising in information systems.

WALLIX AdminBastion (WAB) offers a genuine all-in-one secure solution, providing the necessary level of surveillance for high-risk accounts, privilege accounts and administrator accounts with access to company data. WAB enables access control, traceability and session recording of both internal and external operators intervening in an IT system.

WAB 2.0 is easy to use, requires no change to working practices, and can be rolled out across a company’s infrastructure in just a few days. Its principle functionalities are traceability, single sign-on (SSO) centralised authentication, session recording, and access-control functions without a technician. WAB 2.0 also complies with all international standards for security, including the Basel II Accord, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) of the USA and the French financial security law (LSF).

In the UK, business expenditure linked with IT security rose by nearly 13.7% in 2008, reaching a total sum of £4.37 billion, according to the study Information Security Breaches, which was published by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (now the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills). Despite the decline in the number of incidents recorded between 2004 and 2008, the total average cost linked to security incidents for a company continues to increase. In 2008 the average cost was estimated to be between £10,000 and £20,000, as compared with £8,000 to £17,000 in 2006.

Companies have to protect themselves against external risks, notably when they use subcontractors – in 2008, one third of companies used external IT providers. For companies with more than 150 employees, this rises to 72%. Faced with this increase in outsourcing, the control and tracing of actions performed on an IT network has become indispensable, as failure to do so could potentially lead to disastrous consequences for the credibility and financial health of a company.

In addition to the threat posed by external contractors, recent studies show that 86% of security problems are actually caused by current or former members of staff. It is, therefore, essential for companies to be able to control and trace both external providers and internal administrators.

WALLIX has developed its WAB solution in order to address this situation. WAB meets the needs of managers of information systems, networks and security, by strengthening the security policies of server administration, applications and network equipment.

WAB is already used by many clients of all sizes – from medium enterprises to very large companies – and by all business sectors, including finance, manufacturing, telecoms and the public sector. WALLIX already has clients in France, in the Benelux countries, in Switzerland and in the Middle East.

In France, WALLIX has worked with the town council of Beauvais (north of Paris), which is known for its international airport that is served by various European airlines. WALLIX was brought in after the town council became aware of very real threats affecting its IT systems. Nicolas Shockaert, IT Security manager at Beauvais town council, states, “With this solution, which provides us with many services, all our needs are met and, in two years, we have had no negative recurrence.” To read the interview in full, please go to: http://mobilnews.info/interview-de-Nicolas-Shockaert.html.

Wallix benefits from the backing of institutional partners such as UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), Security Innovation and Technology Consortium, Thames Valley Partnership, SEEDA, IBM and Red Hat.

Download the pdf

About Wallix

WALLIX, which is headquartered in Paris (France), is a leading specialist in security solutions for the management of crucial IT infrastructures. WALLIX AdminBastion is an innovative traceability tool that allows organisations to control connections and to record all the business operations performed on their equipment or IT infrastructure, in full compliance with current security standards.

WALLIX’s solutions are marketed through a network of distributors and IT integrators. WALLIX leads a range of projects – AdminProxy, Deskolo and OpenGPU – which are backed by Fonds Unique Interministériel (a French organisation that supports R&D projects linked to the work of innovation clusters) and the Ile-de-France region.

WALLIX has been recognised by Oseo, France’s agency for innovation, and is part of the PM’up programme, which supports innovative SMEs in the Ile-de-France region. Wallix is also a partner of the System@tic Paris Region innovation cluster.

The company is backed by private investors including Access2Net, Sopromec, Hedera and Venturi Capital.

For more information on the company's solutions, visit http://www.wallix.com

Ms Kate AMBLER - Press Officer
UBIFRANCE Press Office in London
SW1Y 4SP
Tel: +44 (0) 207 024 3640
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
View other press releases at :
www.ftpb.co.uk