Sonicwall, Certicom Laying Off Work Forces, Restructuring

SonicWall Inc. and Certicom Corp. last week announced major layoffs and corporate restructurings, continuing a trend that has seen several major security vendors reshuffle their organizations in recent weeks.

SonicWall, a Sunnyvale, Calif., provider of virtual private network and firewall appliances, plans to lay off up to 20 percent of its work force and take a charge of $2 million to $4 million as a result of the restructuring. The company will also consolidate some of its offices and eliminate “duplicate resources resulting from recent acquisitions.”

In the last 18 months, SonicWall has acquired Phobus Corp., a maker of Secure Sockets Layer security products, and Ignyte Technology Inc., a consulting and technical support company.

The company also announced executive appointments, including vice presidents of sales, research and development, marketing, professional services, and human resources.

Certicom, meanwhile, will not only lay off 30 workers but will also relocate its headquarters to Toronto. The company, which is currently based in Mississauga, Ontario, specializes in wireless security products.

Certicom executives said they hope the moves will help the company become profitable by the second quarter of next year.

The announcements by the two companies come less than a week after RSA Security Inc. slashed 200 jobs and announced a corporate restructuring.

Computer Associates International Inc. also shuffled its executive lineup recently, consolidating its products into five brand units and placing co-founder and Executive Vice President Russ Artzt in charge of the security unit.