WatchGuard Breaks Revenue Records
Announcement posted by WatchGuard Technologies 04 Feb 2010
Smashes Q4 and 2009 Revenue Records as Businesses Worldwide Deploy WatchGuard Multifunction Firewalls and SSL VPN Solutions
Sydney – February 4, 2010 - WatchGuard Technologies, a global leader of business security solutions, today announced that it broke company records for revenues - for both Q4 2009 and for the 2009 calendar year. WatchGuard attributes this feat to substantial global adoption and new mid-market and enterprise customer deployments of their innovative multifunction firewalls, award-winning SSL VPN appliances and cutting-edge threat-blocking services. Notably, these record revenues do not include contributions from BorderWare Technologies, a leading developer of messaging, content and cloud-based security solutions, whose acquisition was completed in August 2009.
“The last 12 months have proved to be challenging for most businesses with layoffs and budget cuts becoming commonplace, particularly in IT. This drove many to reconsider their security purchasing models and preferred vendors and as a result presented WatchGuard with many new opportunities to increase our revenue by 36 per cent in the second half of 2009 compared to the first half of the year. Much of this growth was experienced in the mid-market enterprise segment and fuelled by the release and take up of our higher end appliances, specifically the XTM 1050 and the XTM 8 Series capable of up to 10GB throughput,” said Scott Robertson, Regional Director Australia and New Zealand, WatchGuard Technologies.
WatchGuard Revenue Growth Seen Worldwide
For 2009, WatchGuard set corporate revenue records due to numerous countries achieving double-digit, top-line revenue growth. In particular the strong revenue performance was broad-based led by the following: U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Austria, Australia/New Zealand, China, Korea and Singapore/Malaysia, which all reported record Q4 2009 revenues, year-over-year revenue growth or both. WatchGuard expects to see this strong momentum to carry through 2010 as new products and solutions are introduced, and as businesses respond to compliance and regulatory measures.
Market Highlights
For Q4 2009, WatchGuard grew marketshare and increased top line revenue while maintaining profitability. Highlights include:
- Accelerated unit shipments into mid-market and enterprise environments as evidenced by 30 percent year-over-year (YoY) unit growth of WatchGuard Firebox Peak and XTM 1050 multifunction firewall appliances;
- Continued market leader performance among SME environments as demonstrated by 12 percent YoY growth for WatchGuard Firebox Core security appliances and 15 percent growth for WatchGuard Firebox Edge small office/branch office UTMs;
- Profitability achieved for all four quarters in 2009;
- Substantial growth of WatchGuard LiveSecurity attach and renewal rates.
Business Highlights
The year also marked several noteworthy market and business developments at the company. Notably, these include:
- Acquisition of BorderWare Technologies, a recognised Gartner Magic Quadrant "innovator" of messaging and web content security appliances and developer of ReputationAuthority, a cutting edge cloud-based security service;
- Substantive channel expansion - both by geographies and by market segments;
- Roll-out of new managed security service provider (MSSP) programs and technology features designed to catalyse new business models and IT platforms for delivering and managing security as a service;
- Recognition of WatchGuard as a Gartner Magic Quadrant "leader" for UTM appliances.
Technology Highlights
2009 marked a year of major technology leaps for the company. Highlights of the company's technology developments include:
- Launch of new mid-market and enterprise/data-centre grade multifunction firewalls, the WatchGuard XTM 8 and XTM 10 Series families of appliances;
- Launch of the new WatchGuard Extensible Content Security (XCS) line of messaging, data loss prevention (DLP) and web content filtering solutions;
- New advancements to the WatchGuard "defense-in-depth" Fireware XTM operating system to address next generation threats, such as those cloaked via VoIP or by HTTPS;
- Improved management features that allow for greater scalability, flexibility and granular end-user control;
- Continued development and integration of cloud-based security technologies to provide a foundation for dynamic business and IT environments.
Robertson said, "WatchGuard is solidly poised to build upon its financial, business and technology developments and turn 2010 into another record year. With the acquisition of BorderWare complete, WatchGuard moves to the next level of providing complete and comprehensive business security solutions to best protect business networks, applications and data."
About WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.
Since 1996, WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. has been the advanced technology leader of business security solutions, providing mission-critical protection to hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide. The WatchGuard family of wired and wireless unified threat management appliances, messaging, content security and SSL VPN remote access solutions provide extensible network, application and data protection, as well as unparalleled network visibility, management and control. WatchGuard products are backed by WatchGuard LiveSecurity Service, an innovative support, maintenance, and education program. WatchGuard is headquartered in Seattle and has offices serving North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. To learn more, visit www.watchguard.com.
“The last 12 months have proved to be challenging for most businesses with layoffs and budget cuts becoming commonplace, particularly in IT. This drove many to reconsider their security purchasing models and preferred vendors and as a result presented WatchGuard with many new opportunities to increase our revenue by 36 per cent in the second half of 2009 compared to the first half of the year. Much of this growth was experienced in the mid-market enterprise segment and fuelled by the release and take up of our higher end appliances, specifically the XTM 1050 and the XTM 8 Series capable of up to 10GB throughput,” said Scott Robertson, Regional Director Australia and New Zealand, WatchGuard Technologies.
WatchGuard Revenue Growth Seen Worldwide
For 2009, WatchGuard set corporate revenue records due to numerous countries achieving double-digit, top-line revenue growth. In particular the strong revenue performance was broad-based led by the following: U.S., U.K., France, Italy, Austria, Australia/New Zealand, China, Korea and Singapore/Malaysia, which all reported record Q4 2009 revenues, year-over-year revenue growth or both. WatchGuard expects to see this strong momentum to carry through 2010 as new products and solutions are introduced, and as businesses respond to compliance and regulatory measures.
Market Highlights
For Q4 2009, WatchGuard grew marketshare and increased top line revenue while maintaining profitability. Highlights include:
- Accelerated unit shipments into mid-market and enterprise environments as evidenced by 30 percent year-over-year (YoY) unit growth of WatchGuard Firebox Peak and XTM 1050 multifunction firewall appliances;
- Continued market leader performance among SME environments as demonstrated by 12 percent YoY growth for WatchGuard Firebox Core security appliances and 15 percent growth for WatchGuard Firebox Edge small office/branch office UTMs;
- Profitability achieved for all four quarters in 2009;
- Substantial growth of WatchGuard LiveSecurity attach and renewal rates.
Business Highlights
The year also marked several noteworthy market and business developments at the company. Notably, these include:
- Acquisition of BorderWare Technologies, a recognised Gartner Magic Quadrant "innovator" of messaging and web content security appliances and developer of ReputationAuthority, a cutting edge cloud-based security service;
- Substantive channel expansion - both by geographies and by market segments;
- Roll-out of new managed security service provider (MSSP) programs and technology features designed to catalyse new business models and IT platforms for delivering and managing security as a service;
- Recognition of WatchGuard as a Gartner Magic Quadrant "leader" for UTM appliances.
Technology Highlights
2009 marked a year of major technology leaps for the company. Highlights of the company's technology developments include:
- Launch of new mid-market and enterprise/data-centre grade multifunction firewalls, the WatchGuard XTM 8 and XTM 10 Series families of appliances;
- Launch of the new WatchGuard Extensible Content Security (XCS) line of messaging, data loss prevention (DLP) and web content filtering solutions;
- New advancements to the WatchGuard "defense-in-depth" Fireware XTM operating system to address next generation threats, such as those cloaked via VoIP or by HTTPS;
- Improved management features that allow for greater scalability, flexibility and granular end-user control;
- Continued development and integration of cloud-based security technologies to provide a foundation for dynamic business and IT environments.
Robertson said, "WatchGuard is solidly poised to build upon its financial, business and technology developments and turn 2010 into another record year. With the acquisition of BorderWare complete, WatchGuard moves to the next level of providing complete and comprehensive business security solutions to best protect business networks, applications and data."
About WatchGuard Technologies, Inc.
Since 1996, WatchGuard Technologies, Inc. has been the advanced technology leader of business security solutions, providing mission-critical protection to hundreds of thousands of businesses worldwide. The WatchGuard family of wired and wireless unified threat management appliances, messaging, content security and SSL VPN remote access solutions provide extensible network, application and data protection, as well as unparalleled network visibility, management and control. WatchGuard products are backed by WatchGuard LiveSecurity Service, an innovative support, maintenance, and education program. WatchGuard is headquartered in Seattle and has offices serving North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America. To learn more, visit www.watchguard.com.