HP Australia to build new security consulting team

Brings Vistorm capability to region.
HP Australia has revealed plans to build up a new security consulting team within its Enterprise Services division as part of a regrouping of security resources in that part of its business.

The company has placed advertisements for a 'client security officer lead' to head the team. Among desired credentials are government expertise and Australian security clearance.

Enterprise Services is the name given to the former outsourcing business EDS.

Although the old EDS had a security consulting team, it has been regrouped and branded globally under the umbrella of Enterprise Security Services.

Enterprise Security Services evolved out of HP's buyout of British security consultancy Vistorm about three years ago.

The division is now being established more aggressively in Asia Pacific and Japan.

"[Enterprise Security Services is] a rebranding and regrouping of management, taking on methodologies of the Vistorm organisation," HP's enterprise security products general manager for South Pacific, Christopher Poulos, told SC Magazine.

Poulos is coy on the expected size of the new services team in Australia.

"I can't really mention numbers but they're certainly pretty aggressive and going hard in the market," he said.

Poulos said that the adoption of the Vistorm methodologies would provide a "neat picture" of the security services division's offerings around consultancy, managed and outsourced services.

He also said that housing the consultancy within the old EDS is a strategy that has been "well received".

"Customers that ES [Enterprise Services] already has are looking for guidance from a holistic point of view," Poulos said.

"Given that we already own most of their infrastructure, adding security to the mix has been a well received strategy."

Further expansion of Enterprise Security Services is planned in the region.

The services division is functionally separate from the security products division where Poulos is employed. The product division - Enterprise Security Products - encompasses TippingPoint, Fortify and ArcSight.