IBM announced on Wednesday that 20 new members have joined Blade.org, adding that two founding members of the recently-formed community are launching new security products based on its BladeCenter blade servers.
The announcement brings the total number of contributors to the Blade.org group up to 60, and shows that IBM is continuing to expand the reach of its blade server platform.
Launched in February, Blade.org is designed to encourage partners to build products on top of the BladeCenter systems, furthering the development and advancement of blade server technology.
"Today marks a milestone for Blade.org with 60 companies joined together to speed the creation of innovative products and solutions to clients around the globe," said Doug Balog, chairman of Blade.org.
The two new security products come from dedicated security vendors and early members of the community, OpenService and Datacom Systems.
OpenService is introducing a packaged product that offers its Security Management Center ported to the IBM BladeCenter. The product lets users to manage their risks, vulnerabilities and other security issues by collecting and analysing security event data. The company has also agreed to give distribution rights to reseller Avnet, another Blade.org member.
Datacom is putting its digital surveillance product onto BladeCenter, which will enable blade server users to maintain and store video images, and to access, view and email the images remotely.
Andy Buss, a senior analyst at canalys.com, told ZDNet UK he believes that dynamic security measures are key to BladeCenter's success: "Security event management is a fast growing area of security that many vendors are looking to address to try to cut through the noise and identify true threat behaviour.
"Physical security is increasingly converging with IT networks. This convergence will not only cut costs by consolidating systems onto one network, but will also allow advanced technologies such as motion detection or facial recognition to be used on the video streams to enhance security."
The new Blade.org members announced on Wednesday are: AudioCodes, Azlan, Azul Systems, Blade Network Technologies, Chelsio, ClearCube Technology, ClearSpeed Technology, DataCom Systems, Ericom Software, IDT, LANDesk Software, Mazu Networks, Neterion, Privacy Networks, SilverStorm Technologies, Sirius Computer Solutions, Softricity, Tarari, Teradici and Xambala.
