Telco IT-security offerings mature

Telcos have been trying to redefine themselves not only as connectivity providers but also security providers for a few years now - but picking up net new security customers isn't easy, according to one analyst.Telcos want to exploit the existing "terror" many companies are feeling today about receiving midnight calls to let them know their networks have been breached, said Iain Grant, managing director at the SeaBoard Group. "That's the intention. Whether they're there yet or not, we're not convinced," Grant said.Bell Canada has spent a lot of time in the last three years pouring money into its security operation, but Grant isn't sure if it's as successful as the company would like it to be.Still, telcos do have an advantage: they have existing relationships with many of Canada's leading corporations and they can exploit that relationship to approach companies with security offerings, the analyst said. And many companies want to offload their security practices. "Most IT managers are looking to outsource so they can put the burden on someone else's shoulders." However, Telus Corp. says it's picking up security customers that aren't existing connectivity customers. Only about 50% of Telus security customers are using the carrier's connectivity services, according to Richard Renier, the Toronto chief security and technology officer for Telus Security Solutions. The company picked up a large portfolio of security customers when it made the Assurent Secure Technologies acquisition last April. Telus recently consolidated its three main security groups - its security operations team, the Assurent team and the managed services team - under a single umbrella: Telus Security Solutions. The team currently has 165 people across Canada. "Security will become very much a part of the marketing message," Renier said.Rent-a-chiefThe company offers managed services, consulting services and its Enterprise Security Program, through which it will provide mid-sized companies with a chief security officer and the appropriate security personnel as needed. Many medium-sized companies can't afford to attract seasoned CSOs, Renier said. So they either promote IT people and hope they can learn how to manage, or transfer a senior executive and hope they can take on security. Depending on the size of the company, Telus will either set up a full-time, dedicated CSO or a part time CSO who also handles other companies. The CSO will bring in other experts as needed. At any given time, a company might need, for example, a Cisco Systems Inc. routing specialist, a credit card processing security specialist or a privacy compliance specialist. "You don't need a full time Cisco router specialist, but you need that person when you need it," Renier said.MTS Allstream Inc. also offers a number of security services, including a consulting service and a managed security service. Its security team is about 350-people strong, said Gordon Haynes, executive vice-president, professional services.The company has about 1,500 security accounts, and about half of them are also connectivity customers, Haynes said. Customers trust MTS Allstream because it's a telco, he said. "It's natural for them to associate us with carrier-grade security."The telcos have robust security offerings, the SeaBoard Group's Grant agreed. And because this is a relatively new portfolio for them, they will do more for less than companies like IBM Corp. that are mainly concerned about price, he said. "They'll do whatever it takes to make it work. Telus will work harder for you than IBM will."BC Attorney GeneralOne Allstream customer - the Ministry of the Attorney General for the Government of British Columbia - uses the carrier's risk-assessment program. The Attorney General oversees the province's justice system, including court services. It performs privacy and risk assessments of justice projects, ensuring that the information gathered by police and other security authorities is collected for the right reasons and stored safely, so citizens' private information remains private.Although he wouldn't go into details about specific operations, Mark Scherling, director of privacy records information security management for the Attorney General in Victoria, said the ministry was looking for information-security partners, and selected both Allstream and Deloitte after publishing a request for proposals. Now whenever there's a new project, the Attorney General's office asks the two vendors to make bids on it, and the ministry selects one depending on which provider has the expertise required.The ministry selected Allstream because of "the quality of the service and the people," Scherling said. "There was quite a bit of depth in doing this kind of work."The ministry has changed its practices as a result of Allstream's recommendations, Scherling said. It's currently looking at setting up a single sign-on identity management system, and hopes to partner with Allstream on it, he said. Expanding relationships with vendors isn't something the Attorney General does readily - it first works on a number of small projects to build trust. "We need to build a comfort level and then expand the horizon," Scherling said. "We're investing money for citizens."

Telco IT-security offerings mature

News | May 9, 2007

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