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