3Com is kicking off a new integration of security and networking with the introduction in the United States of firewall/VPN gear it has sold in China for months.

Test: 3Com's high-end switch

Next up on the road map will be hardware blades integrating 3Com's Tipping Point IPS for use in data centers and later, blades that support antivirus, antispam and other malware blocking applications.

This is all part of an overarching 3Com security strategy that better integrates its networking and security products and puts it on a better footing to woo Cisco customers who are open to changing vendors. Topping off the initiative is a road map for an integrated network and security management framework.

The result of these initiatives will be what the company is calling a secure network fabric that embeds security in the network at points where it is needed and has a single management platform to oversee it all.

The most significant aspect of the announcement is the management, says Phil Hochmuth, an analyst with the Yankee Group. "Enterprises are really consolidating their management roles," he says. "More and more enterprise IT and enterprise security teams are sharing the same hat, the teams are extremely integrated. The more they are looking at the same screens, the better."

Click to see: Pie chart of a Yankee Group survey of security cooperation

To accommodate this general shift in the industry, infrastructure vendors with broad ranges of products are unifying their network- and security-management platforms - no simple task, he says. It's been a problem for Cisco to accomplish and Juniper has a similar unified architecture that combines network and security management into one product, Hochmuth says.

But just as Cisco has struggled with blending security and network management, 3Com faces similar challenges. "They have a management road map, but the question is how to bring Tipping Point products onto it," Hochmuth says. "Will [the management platforms] be bolted together? Will you launch Tipping Point management tools from an H3C environment but not in as integrated a manner as you'd really like them to be?"

The consolidated management is a must, though. "3Com is trying to compete more directly with Cisco, and to be competitive with Cisco you need a lot of options," he says. The company is seeking to entice away customers whose Cisco gear needs replacement with similar functionality at a lower price. "They're trying to get on the short list of enterprises that are looking to expand the list of who they'll look at."