On August 23, 2007, Perimeter eSecurity announced that it was acquiring USA.NET, a leading provider of secure eMessaging services. The announcement came just two weeks after Perimeter received a $50 million dollar commitment from Goldman Sachs, Bessemer Ventures and the Stripes Group.

Perimeter eSecurity, formerly Perimeter Internetworking, has become one of the largest independent managed security services providers (MSSPs) in the U.S. as a result of a series of acquisitions over the past three years. Here’s a quick chronology in reverse order:

In January 2007, Perimeter acquired Message Secure, a leading provider of managed security solutions to financial institutions and other businesses in the U.S.
In June 2006, Perimeter acquired ANE Technologies, a MSSP that provided security services to community banks and other financial organizations based in the Midwest.
In February 2006, Perimeter acquired Breakwater Security Associates, a leading provider of managed … Read More »

With the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) movement becoming generally accepted among organizations of all sizes, a growing number of SaaS vendors are seeking to differentiate themselves by creating on-demand solutions specifically designed to address the unique requirements of particular industries or vertical markets.

THINKstrategies’ SaaS Showplace includes nearly 600 company listings by industry. Many of these companies are simply targeting specific industries rather than offering industry-specific solutions. However, a growing number are designing their on-demand solutions to cater to the specific needs of targeted industries.

The shift in attention is timely according to THINKstrategies’ latest SaaS survey in conjunction with Cutter Consortium. In the second installment of our three-part series on the findings of this survey we will discuss how a substantial proportion of the survey respondents are either currently using industry-specific SaaS solutions or considering them.

Leading SaaS vendors, such as Salesforce.com and NetSuite, … Read More »