Closing the gap

I haven't seen anything really new and interesting recently. I love seeing new technologies, and especially new security technologies. I was really happy at InfoSec this year when I saw Secerno, AppGate and Centrify. I hope I'll come across them again at RSA next week, but I'm really looking for something more.

I have an article being printed in Computer Weekly soon (I'll let you know when it hits) about US and UK security markets, and why there's such a gap. I won't spoil the surprise by discussing it here, but most people who read this will already broadly know. The outcome of it is that there is usually a space of 4 or 5 years between something becoming popular in the US, to becoming popular in the UK.

My current position is a case in point. I was at a reseller who tried to bring Ingrian into the UK 5 years ago or so, and we had real problems getting broad interest. We are now inundated with work. This isn't an Ingrian advert however.

No, what I'm looking for now are the things that are interesting, up and coming, and tearing up the market in the US right now. I don't know if I'll get to see these at RSA Europe, because of the very fact that most technologies take 4 or 5 years to become popular over here once they are established in the US. It's a bit of a Catch-22 really, but since I've won a trip to RSA2008 in SF, I'm thinking I can probably wait a few months.

Of course, there's always the chance that I'll come across some badly informed companies who are trying to break into the market here before it's taken off in the US, in which case I will do everything I can to encourage them. It's about time the UK started to encourage security a bit more, ignored the channel and encouraged new and exciting ideas. I'll be in SF in 2 weeks and I want to see some seriously good technology, but it's a hell of a long trip, I'd rather have it on my doorstep.