Helsinki, Finland-based StoneSoft said versions of its new on Mikrolog appliance will be designed for use as a small office or branch office system, with a model also in the pipeline that will cater to market needs for high-end enterprise firewall/VPN gateways.

Easy-to-deploy integrated security appliances are fast proving a preferred market choice in a sector that counts Netscreen Technologies, SonicWall, Asita and WatchGuard among a long list of vendors scrambling for share of a sector that is being valued by IDC as likely to be worth nearly $3.8bn by 2006.

Mikrolog is best known in the Finnish server-based computing and Citrix market, but the company also makes its own Osborne branded desktops, notebooks and turnkey high security servers. The new appliances, which will be sold through StoneSoft’s European distributor channel, are slated for release by the end of June. Pricing has not yet been confirmed.

Source: Computerwire