Efficient and Secure
Israeli companies have been global leaders in developing and implementing IT software solutions, systems and packages. Local companies have pioneered solutions in such fields as imaging, voice response and recognition, artificial intelligence, data communications and Internet applications, CAD/CAM systems and more. In particular Israeli firms specialize in enterprise software and storage and data solutions, which enhance corporate efficiency, as well as security related IT systems including Internet security, e-mail surveillance, data mining, data fusion, situational awareness and pattern and image recognition.
The country’s strength in these sectors extends from a strong research oriented university base, through product development for national security and aerospace programs and onto a powerful business sector containing both dozens of well-established enterprises and hundreds of start-ups. According to the Israel Association of Electronics and Information Industries, the country’s software and IT houses export over $3 billion worth of software annually.
With the ability to anticipate market needs and devise innovative, cost-effective software products in a rapid, flexible and creative way, the country has more than 10,000 computer scientists working for nearly 400 software houses and dozens more start-ups. Moreover, a large proportion of the additional $1 billion in domestic software sales to local high-tech manufacturers is also sold overseas embedded in electonics items.
The biggest Israeli software house is Amdocs, a leading international provider of information system solutions for the telecommunications industry. With a portfolio of industry leading products including billing, CRM, self service, order management, mediation, and content revenue management Amdocs has annual sales of $2.5 billion. Other major players include Comverse, a world leader in multimedia telecommunications applications, with annual sales of $1.2 billion, and Formula Systems, which develops and implements innovative, proprietary software, services and solutions, turnkey projects and outsourcing services as well as software distribution and support. Formula has annual sales in excess of $500 million. NDS specializes in systems for digital TV technologies has annual sales of $600 million.
Overseas companies are continually purchasing Israeli IT firms. During 2006 HP acquired Mercury Interactive for $4.5 billion - Mercury is a global leader in business optimization technology software with annual revenues of $700 million. Sandisk spent $1.5 billion on the acquisition of M – Systems, which has developed revolutionary mobile storage systems for computer data.
Other leading Israeli IT companies include Ness Technologies which provides comprehensive end-to-end IT services inlcuding a unique global delivery model of value-added services. Tescom Software Systems Testing has become a leader in systems for checking software quality assurance (SQA).
Traditionally, Israel has been strong in software defense products such as real-time applications, imaging, avionics, communications and command/control applications. Over time this expertise has been increasingly applied to the civilian sector by software specialists honed in the art of finding software solutions to the most complex and urgent needs.
However, advanced technologies have also created new problems, particularly in the realm of data security. Computers and all the secrets they contain are vulnerable when linked to worldwide networks via the telephone, while e-commerce and m-commerce can only flourish if security can be guaranteed for payments made over the Internet. The Internet has opened up new global horizons but it also presents new dangers. Hackers can obtain secret information, while viruses can wipe out the hard disks of millions of computers within a relatively short time. Israeli companies have been world leaders in pioneering secure communications and privacy over security networks.
Check Point Software Technologies, for example, has successfully developed products guaranteeing secure enterprise connectivity. Products include the enterprise security and virtual private network suite FireWall-1 and one of the industry’s premiere bandwith management solutions FloodGate-1. These products have enabled Check Point, which is publicly traded on the US NASDAQ market, to record annual sales of nearly $450 million.
An additional Israeli company specializing in “firewall” products includes Security 7, which was acquired by the US giant Computer Associates. Security 7 has developed “Safegate” offering industrial strength security and protecting enterprise networks from unauthorized contact. Other Israeli companies engaged in this sector include DataSec. Specializing in IT security services, DataSec builds data security infrastructures for its clients. Finjan Software provides proactive content behavior inspection systems, while Aladdin Knowledge Systems specializes in digital security, providing organizations with solutions for software commerce and Internet security.
Israeli firms also offer expertise in the sphere of information surveillance. Verint Systems, known until recently as Comverse Infosys which is traded on NASDAQ, is a leading provider of analytic software solutions for communications interception, digital video security and surveillance, and enterprise business intelligence. A range of products for government and law enforcement agencies enables intelligent collection, storage, processing, monitoring, distribution and management of communications. Synel Industries has developed hardware and software for intelligent data collection including access control.
Another Israeli company, CipherActive, develops and markets accelerated standard encryption solutions, thus enabling wide usage of cryptography in resource constrained environments as well as in high volume systems. Algorithmic Research develops data security solutions for business applications such as disigtal signatures, encryption and authentication, and Vsecure develops next generation network security solutions ISPs, MSPs and telecom providers.
Coral Engineering is a company that specializes in the planning, installing and operating of sophisticated equipment for gathering intelligence data, special observations, uncovering and avoidance of "bugs". Coral has also developed a high energy cargo X-ray inspection system.
ECtel, a subsidiary of ECI Telecom, provides monitoring and revenue assurance solutions for converged telecommunications netwroks. Traded on NASDAQ, ECtel also provides network monitoring and anlysis solutions targeted towards law enforcement and intelligence agencies as well as telecom providers. Elron TeleSoft has also developed innovative revenue assurance and network management solutions for telecom operators and service providers. Goldtec Technologies has also developed products for covert communications operations, while Netline Communications Technologies provides solutions including jammers and detectors for the control of mobile cellular communications. Tadiran Communications has developed a family of tactical and long-range communications systems.
Other IT security companies include Whale Communications which provides SSL VPN solutions that enable enterprises to provide employees with secure access to corporate data and applications from any web browser. Riverhead Networks (formerly WanWall) develops solutions for Distributed Denial of Service Attacks for Wide Area Networks (WANs). Riverhead was acquired by Cisco Networks during 2004 for $42 million. WebCohort provides web applications and database security solutions, while Skybox Security has developed corporate IT security risk assessment software.
Start up companies in this sector include Network Privacy, which develops end-to-end encryption solutions, NPX Technologies which has developed an e-commerce identity verification technology and Beyond Security which develops tools for finding security holes in hosts and networks exposing vulnerabilities in corporate networks.
No security is ever one hundred percent perfect and efficiency can always be enhanced, but by choosing an Israeli firm customers can always be assured of receiving the the latest and most leading edge IT systems