Nokia Spinning Off Security Appliance Division

Filed under: Services, nokia, security - 30 Sep 2008 0:01

The thing that has consumed my waking thoughts on Monday was the fact that Nokia has announced they are in the advanced stages of discussions with a financial investor to purchase this Security Appliance business from Nokia. Since this is the part of Nokia I work in, I am obviously a bit concerned by this.

All indications are that the Security Appliance part of Nokia’s business will be spun out–intact–and made an independent company under new ownership. By itself, Nokia’s Security Appliance business is fairly substantial. Not as big as Nokia’s handset business, obviously, but it’s still a reasonably sized business.

For customers, it should be business as usual. Operationally speaking, most of what makes up the Security Appliance business in Nokia is already fairly independent of the rest of Nokia. The relationships with Check Point, Sourcefire, and others will continue and likely strengthen. The only real change will be the name on the front door, though you will likely to continue to see the Nokia brand in use for a period of time while the marketing folks roll out the new branding.

I think it will be a positive thing for the business as a whole. I personally see a lot of opportunities in this new world order, both for myself and the business. That being said, I won’t be part of Mother Nokia anymore, which I believe also has some interesting opportunities, but opens others. It’s giving me a lot to think about.

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Tags: check point, nokia, Security Appliance, Sourcefire Fnord

Comments (8)

8 Comments

Pingback by PhoneBoy

Nokia is selling off the part of the company I work for
Pingback by StillSecure, After All These Years

the Nokia appliance business, but they may not care. PS – I broke my finger playing basketball last week and typing is very hard. don’t look for a lot of posts from me and certainly not any very long ones for a while! Related articles by ZemantaNokia Spinning Off Security Appliance DivisionNokia to sell security biz Sourcefire aims security appliances at small networks Nokia Intrusion Prevention And Nokia Firewall
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[...] getting out of the corporate mobility and solutions business. Many are following this closely (as are folks inside the company, who will be affected). Is this good or bad? I’m not so sure. Nokia will still [...]
Comment by spg

and one of my favorite bloggers will have a more neutral position in terms of handsets!!!!

just kidding!! about the more neutral part..
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[...] investor who will purchase the business from Nokia, as noted in Network World. As PhoneBoy points out, the division will likely be spun out intact and made into a new company under new [...]
Comment by Sheryl

OMG!!!! Obviously I found and READ> So, who’s buying? And what does this ultimately mean? We need a chat!
Comment by PhoneBoy

I’ll at least be able to start NOT putting disclaimers on everything I say about Nokia. Well, maybe I’ll still have to for a while…
Pingback by It’s Complicated

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[...] was finished, but before it was printed and bound, and available on amazom.com and other places, Nokia announced it was selling off the Security Appliance business. Even if the boxes have a different name on them, which must happen eventually as result of new [...]