InformationWeek

Using Provider-1 2000's global policy feature, a security administrator can create a master policy that is replicated across all customers automatically, says Chip Schooler, service provider marketing manager for Check Point. Previously, administrators were forced to change each individual policy manually.

Other new features include automated backup, restoration of customer security policies, and improved management integration with Check Point's FloodGate-1, enabling bandwidth prioritization of virtual private network and other applications running over the Internet.

While Provider-1 2000 shows incremental product maturity, more needs to be done before security management through service providers can reach a price that's sensible for most small and midsize companies, says Kate von Goeler, an analyst with Cahners In-Stat. "This version furthers Check Point's trend for increasing reliability, and making managed security cheaper," she says, "but managed security still remains a service for large enterprises."

Schooler says that in order to reduce management costs, one area that still needs improvement is the ability to administer more customers from a single management server. Provider-1 2000 can administer 200 users, twice the number the previous version can handle.

"We will be increasing that number in the future," he says. However, Schooler says, multiple Provider-1 2000 servers also can be linked into a server farm and scaled to manage hundreds of customer policies at thousands of sites through a single management view.