With Gartner estimating the Data Loss Prevention (DLP) market to reach $400 million in 2011[1] and with adoption of DLP technologies moving quickly down to the small to medium enterprise, DLP is no longer an unknown quantity.  In spite of this progress, DLP remains a market shrouded by confusion over everything from the definition of DLP to the right way to address the problem–whether that’s at the endpoint or the gateway.  Many vendors show they’re suffering from a severe identity crisis as they try to wedge their way into the DLP space by blunt force marketing.

The RSA Conference Expo (Expo) is not immune to this confusion; in fact, in some respects the Expo may add as much confusion to the mix as it resolves.  By way of example, an organization recently contacted me to seek guidance on DLP vendors at the Expo.  This particular organization has an active DLP initiative and has committed the financial and personnel resources to send a delegation to the RSA Conference to research potential vendors.  However, when my contact used the Security Keyword Search feature for the search term “data loss prevention,” he was presented a list of no less than 37 vendors at the Expo who have chosen to associate themselves with the term[2]. 

Upon further research, of those 37 vendors, the vast majority have very little or nothing to do with DLP, effectively nullifying the benefit of being able to narrow your DLP search at the Expo.

This is not an indictment of these vendors or the RSA Conference as a whole.  Most well-meaning vendor marketing departments want to align themselves with many security keyword listings in order to drive as much traffic as possible to their site.  It’s an unfortunate byproduct of the Expo.

The DLP Product Guide for RSA Conference Expo 2011 is an effort to help potential buyers of DLP enforcement technologies.  The guide will list all 37 vendors with the designation of “data loss prevention,” however, it will also provide key details that should prove helpful in maximizing Expo time.

Download the DLP Product Guide for RSA Conference Expo 2011.

[1] Gartner Magic Quadrant for Content-Aware Data Loss Prevention, June 2, 2010

[2] http://www.mapyourshow.com/shows/index.cfm?show_id=RSA11 – security keyword “data loss prevention”