Research Notes

Research Note: Taara Lightbridge

Michael McDowell September 17, 2025

Taara is responding to a clear need in the market for a rapid-to-deploy, high-capacity solution that can scale on demand.

Research Note: Check Point to Acquire Lakera for End-to-End AI Security

Steve McDowell September 17, 2025

Check Point Software announced its intention to acquire Lakera, an AI-native security platform, for $300 million in a transaction expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The acquisition is designed to establish comprehensive AI security capabilities as part of its broader solution stack.

Research Note: Cisco’s AI-Powered Transformation of the Splunk Portfolio at .conf 2025

Steve McDowell September 15, 2025

At its recent Splunk .conf25 in Boston, Cisco unveiled a comprehensive suite of AI-powered enhancements across its recently acquired Splunk portfolio, showing significant progress in integrating the two companies’ technologies.

The announcements centered on three core themes: agentic AI automation, unified data architectures, and enhanced observability capabilities.

Research Note: Palo Alto Networks SASE 4.0

Steve McDowell September 15, 2025

Palo Alto Networks recently released Prisma SASE 4.0, the company’s AI-driven secure access service edge platform to address modern threat vectors and data security challenges.

The new release focuses on three primary areas: browser-based threat protection, AI-enhanced data security, and unified operations management.

Research Note: Celona AerFlex

Michael McDowell September 11, 2025

AerFlex’s innovative AP-only, cloud-based architecture offers a compelling solution for enterprises seeking to adopt private 5G for Industry 4.0 applications without the complexity of traditional network hardware.

Research Note: Veeam Software Appliance for Veeam Data Platform

Steve McDowell September 4, 2025

IT teams have long faced the trade-off of choosing between hardware appliances that lock them into specific vendors and increase costs, or spending resources hardening and maintaining custom backup infrastructure. Veeam’s new Software Appliance offers a third path by delivering appliance-like simplicity without the hardware constraints.