RedSiren Technologies, a company that provides network monitoring and security services, this week added a Web-based interface so customers can more easily see how RedSiren is managing their networks.

The company expanded its 1stWatch network availability, performance and security monitoring service to include a portal, called 1stView. 1stView lets customers check the status of network devices, applications and security systems being monitored at RedSiren's remote operations center (ROC) over the Web.

RedSiren says it differs from other managed service providers (MSP) by bundling security services into its offerings. RedSiren includes access control, encryption, firewall, authentication and antivirus software in its service package.

The firm can also offer years of network security experience, as evidenced with the backgrounds of its executive team. That team includes L. Dain Gary, chief security officer, who co-founded Carnegie Mellon University's Computer Emergency Response Team program, and CTO P. Andrew MacDowell who spent years at Adelphia Communications, Banker's Trust and the Pentagon.

It's pretty standard for MSPs to have a secure connection with their customers through a VPN, says Tim Grieser, research director at IDC. Because companies in part trust their networks to a third party, he says RedSiren's inclusion of security management sets it apart.

"In terms of Web hosting and Web operations, security is the top concern, with availability and performance a close second," he says.

RedSiren configures and installs a server on a customer site and connects that box to its ROC via a secure VPN. RedSiren also uses public-key infrastructure technology and assigns customers a digital certificate to further ensure secure access to and from the customer and RedSiren's location.

RedSiren uses products such as BMC's Patrol, RSA Security's digital certificates and Micromuse's NetCool at its ROCs to manage customer networks. And if customers have pre-existing tools such as Hewlett-Packard OpenView or CA Unicenter, RedSiren says it can also collect the SNMP traps from those products. For alerting beyond that performed by Patrol or NetCool, RedSiren staff will contact a customer IT administrator when network problems escalate and work with a customer's vendor to reach resolution.

"[RedSiren] is letting customers know they will help with the burden of day-to-day systems management and security so internal IT staff can use the time to perform the high-level jobs," Grieser says. Although it's a fairly new trend for MSPs to offer "multifunctional" service packages, RedSiren is already competing with fellow MSPs TriActive and 2ndWave.

RedSiren recently received capital funding from Redleaf Group, joined the MSP Association and signed U.S. Steel as a customer.

Depending on network configuration and level of service, pricing for 1stWatch, which includes 1stView, starts from US$2,000 to $4,000 per month for 10 servers. All services are available now.

RedSiren: www.redsiren.com