Internet Security 

Check Point, last year's runner up, emerges as the winner, piping last year's winner Cisco to the post by just nine index points. Linux-based solutions come in third, one index point above Microsoft ISA Server. It is a very crowded market with CA at number five, Symantec at six, McAfee at seven and TrendMicro at eight.

Compared to last year, the then third-placed Symantec, Network Associates (McAfee now) and open-source solutions have lost brand share. There are three new entrants in the Users' Choice Club: Microsoft, CA and

TrendMicro.

Cisco has the highest brand loyalty, though it is just one percent ahead of Check Point. Microsoft comes in third in the brand-loyalty sweepstakes, followed by Linux and then CA. 

In brand switch, second-placed Cisco enjoys more brand shifts toward itself than winner Check Point. Almost every other player is likely to lose double-digit percentage share to Cisco. Check Point's gains, meanwhile, barring from Microsoft and 'Others', is in single-digit percentages. 

The presence of so many players in the Users' Choice Club and the fact that a player without an actively direct presence in the country is the winner points to a market that is in the early stages of development.

So, how is this crowded market likely to pan out in the coming year? Like the American Presidential elections, the situation is "too close to call", with a neck-to-neck race on between Check Point and Cisco. Cisco has a good chance of wresting back the title. But unlike the other players, Check Point has come this far without having a direct presence in the Indian market.

2003