SUNNYVALE, CA, Dec 04, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX News Network) -- Fortinet(R) (NASDAQ: FTNT) -- a leading network security provider and worldwide leader of unified threat management (UTM) solutions -- today announced that Everything Channel's CRN has honored the company with two 2009 Tech Innovator awards. Fortinet's founder and CTO, Michael Xie, won an Innovator of the Year award and Fortinet won Company of the Year in the Security category for the FortiGate(R)-620B security appliance. The seventh annual Tech Innovators Awards celebrated the most innovative products, people and personalities in the industry and highlighted emerging products and technologies currently sold through the IT Channel. The awards were presented at the XChange Tech Innovators conference in Las Vegas, NV on November 17, 2009.

"Innovation is truly the heart of the technology industry, and the winners of this year's CRN Tech Innovator Awards have taken innovation to the next level," said Robert C. DeMarzo, senior vice president and editorial director, Everything Channel. "We congratulate each and every one of this year's Tech Innovator Award winners."

"To be recognized for innovation -- both as an individual and for a product -- is a milestone we are tremendously proud of," said Michael Xie, founder, CTO and vice president of Engineering, Fortinet. "It is truly an honor to be recognized by Everything Channel and also by our partners themselves for our efforts in leading innovation in the security industry. Both of these awards validate the efforts we have put into our product development and our FortiPartner(TM) Program year after year. We remain committed to investing in our channel partners to provide them with innovative technology and services for our mutual customers."

Product Innovation

The FortiGate-620B appliance raises the bar for mid-size enterprise security devices. With its accelerated security throughput, high port density and ease of management, it allows medium- and large-sized enterprises to enjoy internal network security segmentation and policy control previously available only for large enterprises and carriers. Powered by Fortinet's FortiOS(TM) 4.0, the FortiGate-620B offers many features including application control, data leakage protection, WAN optimization and SSL traffic inspection. Traditional methods of IT security through point products have often been complex, expensive and time-consuming, a consolidated approach such as that offered by the FortiGate-620B broadly covers threats affecting companies today in an intelligent, multi-layered, easy-to-manage and cost-effective approach.

Individual Innovation

Michael Xie is founder, CTO and vice president of Engineering at Fortinet with more than 15 years of experience in the network security industry. He holds multiple U.S. patents and is the author of several books in the computer and network security markets. Previously a Top Technology Innovator by Everything Channel in 2004, he was recognized again in 2009 for his technology leadership. In particular, his vision helped significantly improve the performance of a mid-range product and intensify the value of unified threat management solutions, like the FortiGate-620B with additional security and network service features needed to help counteract today's Threatscape. The combination of these features helps customers to secure their network by removing malicious traffic that is reducing available bandwidth and, at the same time, accelerate clean traffic for optimal network performance.

The Tech Innovator awards were awarded in the following categories: Managed Services; Voice over IP; Virtualization; Storage; Wireless; Servers; Portables; Display; Connectivity; Security; Business Software Enterprise; Business Software SMB; Desktops; Printing; Editor's Choice and Tech Innovator. For each category, CRN Test Center technical editors evaluated each entry on characteristics such as whether it delivered new functionality, used innovation to solve a problem in a new way, or overcame previous technical limitations using a new approach. The product that bridged the widest gap between problem and solution, using new technology or methods, was named the winner in each category.

For more information on the FortiPartner program, go to http://www.fortinet.com/partners/.

Everything Channel ( www.everythingchannel.com, www.channelweb.com)

Everything Channel is the one-stop-shop for accessing, enabling and accelerating technology sales channels. From branding and recruiting to marketing and sales, Everything Channel offers technology marketers the unmatched breadth and depth of global brands and market intelligence combined with an unparallel audience loyalty and credibility serving all technology sales channels. Through innovative sales and marketing solutions, Everything Channel arms the sellers of technology with the resources they need to achieve measurable and significant results.

About United Business Media Limited (www.unitedbusinessmedia.com)

United Business Media Limited (UBM) is a global media and marketing services company that informs markets and brings the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print, and with the information they need to do business successfully. UBM serves professional and commercial communities, from IT professionals to doctors, from journalists to jewelry dealers, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. UBM employs more than 6,500 people in more than 30 countries. UBM's businesses operating in the US include CMPMedica, Commonwealth Business Media, Everything Channel, PR Newswire, RISI, TechInsights, TechWeb and Think Services. UBM is listed on the London Stock Exchange (UBM.L) and has a market capitalization of $2.5 billion.

About Fortinet (www.fortinet.com)

Fortinet is a leading provider of network security appliances and the market leader in Unified Threat Management or UTM. Fortinet solutions were built from the ground up to integrate multiple levels of security protection -- including firewall, VPN, antivirus, intrusion prevention, Web filtering, spyware prevention and antispam -- designed to help customers protect against network and content level threats. Leveraging a custom ASIC and unified interface, Fortinet solutions offer advanced security functionality that scales from remote office to chassis-based solutions with integrated management and reporting. Fortinet solutions have won multiple awards around the world and are the only security products that are certified in five programs by ICSA Labs: Firewall, Antivirus, IPSec VPN, Network IPS and Antispam. Fortinet is based in Sunnyvale, California.

Copyright Copyright 2009 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. The symbols (R) and (TM) denote respectively federally registered trademarks and unregistered trademarks of Fortinet, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. Fortinet's trademarks include, but are not limited to, the following: Fortinet, FortiGate, FortiGuard, FortiManager, FortiMail, FortiClient, FortiCare, FortiAnalyzer, FortiReporter, FortiOS, FortiASIC, FortiWiFi, FortiSwitch, FortiVoIP, FortiBIOS, FortiLog, FortiResponse, FortiCarrier, FortiScan, FortiDB and FortiWeb. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Fortinet has not independently verified statements or certifications herein attributed to third parties and Fortinet does not independently endorse such statements.

FTNT-O

Media Contacts:
Kim Nguyen
Fortinet, Inc.
408-486-5458
knguyen@fortinet.com

SOURCE: Fortinet

mailto:knguyen@fortinet.com

Copyright 2009 Marketwire, Inc., All rights reserved.

News Provided by COMTEX