Security firewalls.

Last year, the revenues generated by firewall appliances outstripped software firewalls for the first time. But there is a growing need for resellers to do more than just sell a firewall or VPN, they need to be aware of the legal issues of security and have the skill to draw up policies.

In November last year, MicroScope posed the question of whether firewalls were becoming a commodity. At the time, David Whitton, sales manager at Panacea Services, thought they were. "It is my opinion that firewalls are turning into commodity products," he said.

So the talk of commoditisation in the firewall market has been around for some time and there are even some ...