CISCO and IBM JOIN FORCES IN IT SECURITY Mercury News: Bay Area news, technology, jobs, cars & real estate
Overall goal

The deal ``signifies the growing importance of networking security converging with networking infrastructure,'' Pacific Growth networking analyst Erik Suppiger noted in a recent report.

``We certainly believe that security gets pushed into the networking infrastructure over time,'' Robert Thomas, CEO of Sunnyvale-based NetScreen, said in an interview Thursday. Thomas is slated to head Juniper's security products division.

The overall goal is simple -- safe but fast networks.

Companies are under pressure to sort vast amounts of content for viruses, spam and other potential threats. But they must do this without creating delays or logjams of data that slow down the pace of work.

Analysts predict more mergers and alliances that blend networking and security, including large companies seeking start-ups with promising technology.