11/2/2004 -- Cisco Systems Inc. last week added to its yearly acquisition tally when it picked up network quarantine specialist Perfigo Inc.

Cisco has shown a knack for making savvy acquisitions at (relatively) bargain-basement prices, and—at $74 million—some analysts say Perfigo is a steal. Why? Because its technology makes Cisco the vendor to beat in the network quarantine solutions market.

According to Laura Koetzle and Robert Whiteley, analysts with consultancy Forrester Research, Perfigo fills a gaping whole in Cisco’s own technology stack—it has long lacked a server-based quarantine solution—and also gives Cisco a standalone, port-based quarantine appliance for the mid-market. “Couple the Perfigo acquisition with Cisco's partnership with Microsoft, and Cisco has become the network quarantine vendor to beat,” write Koetzle and Whiteley.

It’s in the mid-market, in particular, that the Perfigo acquisition should bear the most fruit. “Security-minded mid-market customers will flock to Perfigo's SecureSmart port-based quarantine appliance, particularly if Cisco offers them upgrade credits when they sit down to buy new switches in three years,” say Koetzle and Whiteley. In addition to SecureSmart, Perfigo also markets a solution, called CleanMachines, that’s designed for customers that don’t want to invest in RADIUS servers, switch upgrades or 802.1x.

The Perfigo acquisition could give Cisco the upper hand in its dealings with Microsoft Corp., as well. Last month, Cisco and Microsoft cemented a pact to ensure that their respective network security technologies are interoperable. For example, Microsoft has already said that its own network access protection (NAP) program will be delayed until 2007, which gives Cisco ample time to sell Perfigo’s CleanMachines to customers that might otherwise adopt NAP. “Microsoft wasn't worried about the gap between NAP's release and Cisco's March 2005 release of port-based network admission control … functionality for its switches,” write Koetzle and Whiteley, who note that because wiring closet upgrades aren’t cheap, Microsoft had a chance to undercut Cisco with its low-priced NAP offering. Not anymore: “[T]he Perfigo buy gives Cisco nearly two years to sell CleanMachines into shops that might otherwise wait for NAP.”

That’s not to say that Perfigo is a panacea for Cisco’s network quarantine woes, however. Koetzle and Whiteley stress that the networking giant still doesn’t have an answer for large enterprise customers that want port-based network quarantine but can’t (or don’t want to) upgrade their switch hardware. What’s more, they note, Cisco’s network quarantine solutions still require client software for all endpoint devices. -Stephen Swoyer