As we continue to develop Cobia here at StillSecure we keep peeling away layers of the onion in the UTM market.  It really is a fascinating market.  So many of the leading solutions have stressed taking open source security solutions and putting a pretty, easy-to-use face on them.  Not that I think there is anything wrong with using open source security solutions in UTM.  However, I wonder if there is not more to what people want.  Instinctually I think people would like more than a collection of solutions in a common GUI. I think they would like true integration between the applications.  Realizing a real 1+1=3 equation.  Of course, the question is how do you make this integration work?  What will people see value in?  Good questions for sure.

In order to answer this I think you have to move beyond the analyst papers and the marketing spin of the venders. I need to know what users really use in their UTMs.  What applications do you actually use?  Which ones look cool, but not critical enough to waste time with.  What have you tried but finds it adds no value?  How would you like to see the different modules work together.  I can see very obvious ways that IPS, AV and Firewall can work together.  What about content filtering and anti-spam?  This is your chance to help shape the future of this market.  Take a moment and leave me a comment on what you think a great UTM should have.

Oh by the way, what is the "+" for? It is for going beyond what most UTM is today. What else would you want on a gateway networking/security device?  I am interested in all of your opinions on this, so please let me know.  You can email me at podcast@stillsecure.com if you feel uncomfortable leaving a comment.