UPDATED 14:01 EDT / FEBRUARY 26 2014

Cisco bakes Sourcefire tech into open cloud app management tool

road to cloudCloud applications are the next frontier for the modern enterprise, providing prepackaged functionality that can be consumed on demand under a scalable pricing model. Coming under increased pressure to address maturing user expectations, CIOs are moving to bring their on-premise environments up to par with that of their providers, and automation is emerging as a top priority in bridging the infrastructure divide.

“Automation is taking a repeated process and simplifying it and making it basically error-free,” explained Ken Hui, Rackspace’s open cloud architect, in an interview on theCUBE. He argues that eliminating the manual handling of certain tasks is as much about realizing operational efficiencies as it is about driving business growth.

“Every business wants to bet the farm on X number of projects. In the old days before there was automation, when every step was done manually, I could only do ten projects and if four of them generate revenue I had a great year. If I can automate that process and if it’s simpler and faster, now I can do 50 projects in the same amount of time using the same amount of resources,” Hui said.

Large and historically slow-moving organizations are turning to open source solutions such as OpenStack to deliver on this promise of doing more with less, but the benefits come at the expense of increased complexity. That also holds true for the growing number of next generation cloud applications that are being introduced to the network as part of the industry-wide shift towards a more user-centric IT mindset. Managing identity and access in an increasingly fragmented environment is a daunting challenge that has not yet been fully addressed in the industry, however, progress is being made.

Cisco has emerged as a notable initiator in the push for cloud automation with the Tuesday announcement of OpenAppID, an “application-focused detection language” for the Snort network intrusion prevention system (NIPS) it obtained through the acquisition of Sourcefire. The extension lets companies in regulated industries provide custom security functionality for apps that have to meet strict security and compliance requirements which can’t be effectively addressed using off-the-shelf solutions.

A newly launched “special edition” of Snort includes an OpenAppID pre-processor that supports automatic software detection and usage monitoring while making it possible to block specific applications. Also included is an expanded rule language that allows for app specification and intrusion reporting.

“Open source is very important because it creates real collaboration and trust between vendors and the experts that are tasked with addressing advanced and aggressive threats,” noted Martin Roesch, the original creator of Snort and the head of Cisco’s Security Business Group. “By open sourcing application visibility and control, Cisco is empowering the community to create technically superior solutions to address their most complex and unique security challenges.” Cisco is hoping to jumpstart the OpenAppID ecosystem by making a library of more than 1,000 pre-prepared detectors available for free.

photo credit: Jonathan Kos-Read via photopin cc

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