Palo Alto Networks aims to reinvent the firewall. A Fortune 500 customer has bought into this vision.

The customer is Western & Southern Financial Group, a financial services company with offices in 23 states. While Palo Alto Networks has won other customers, a Fortune 500 financial services win provides essential validation.

As both a startup and a security vendor, Palo Alto has to work twice as hard to gain customer traction. On the startup side, it has to prove the business won't vanish in four quarters. On the security side, enterprises already have invested in firewall technology. Palo Alto has to convince potential buyers of the need to backstop an existing product with something new.

I think it's got a good shot. The company's value proposition is its ability to precisely identify applications trying to enter or exit the corporate network. Armed with this knowledge, administrators can enforce policies on exactly what kinds of traffic are and aren't allowed. Our recent lab test shows Palo Alto can do what it claims.