Here's an update on content control software vendor Marshal.
Products Summary
- MailMarshal SMTP filters email for virus, spam, malware; applies policy-based acceptable use, data leak prevention, and encryption. Operates at Internet boundary.
- MailMarshal Exchange does the same, but for internal MS Exchange traffic.
- WebMarshal controls Web sessions: provides malware suppression, and policy-based URL filtering and data leak prevention.
- MailMarshal Secure Email Server is a module that applies policy-based encryption.
- MailMarshal Service Provider Edition is software for service providers that lets them offer MailMarshal SMTP capabilities.
- All products use the same content management and policy engine.
- Mainly provided as software; email gateway product also available as appliance.
Immediate Development Plans
- Simplify user and administrative interfaces.
- Support for E2007 in MailMarshal Exchange.
- MailMarshal for SMTP and for Exchange will have the same management console.
- MailMarshal for Exchange architecture is being moved to a distributed grid model (i.e., runs on an array of commodity PCs).
- WebMarshal: improved virus and malware scanning.
- Integration of Web and email control technologies, to a common code base.
Customers and Sales
- Customers range from very large organizations to small ones.
- 70% of revenues come from MailMarshal. Of this, 60% are from MailMarshal SMTP; 10% from MailMarshal Exchange.
- About 28% of revenues are from WebMarshal.
- 100% of sales are through channels.
Competition
- Email filtering: Cisco/IronPort (in large organizations); Proofpoint (in midsize organizations); to a lesser degree, Barracuda (in smaller businesses).
- Web filtering: mainly Websense, then Bluecoat; to a lesser degree Secure Computing/McAfee.
- Managed service providers: mainly MessageLabs.
Competitive Strengths as Perceived by Marshal
- Large organizations like the scalability (based on expandable grid of commodity PCs), DMZ-based security, centralized administration and reporting.
- Depth and granularity of policy engine: more file types supported, better and deeper attachment unpacking, better logic flexibility in policy definition.
- Anti-spam engine has consistently high catch rates and consistently low false positives.
Company and Finances
- Current run rate: Ferris Research estimates at $26M.
- Revenues for FYE 6/08, up by 39% on prior year.
- Revenues for FYE 6/07, up by 43% on prior year.
- Privately held.
- 114 staff.
- Profitable for last four quarters.
- No external funding since the firm was bought back from NetIQ in December 2005.
- At buyout, Marshal had an undisclosed round of funding from venture and a bank loan.
Other Comments
- Good technology.
- Company is doing well and is in a healthy state. It has recovered from the distraction of NetIQ acquisition and ensuing divestment.
- Not a well-known name, deserves greater visibility.
- It would be delightful if the company could expand from email and Web, to other electronic information such as instant messages, SharePoint teamspaces, files at rest.
... David Ferris