PlanB: network design, hardening, pentests

[xchaotic]

A friend of mine has asked me about a viability of his idea to run a Ltd and do the above.
Is there a market for it right now, how does one go about finding clients, tenders (other than well, networking)?
My gut feeling is that the market is a little saturated and that it could be quite hard to break into. Also, the companies to whom network infrastructure is critical, surely have in-house expertise, so you're stuck with clients who don't know what a DDOS is (and why would they want to pay to protect against it), I suppose.
I'll be glad to be proven wrong, however...

[ratewhore]

What does your friend specialise in? Network design or security services? Plenty of good, proven companies in the security space so he would have to have a pretty special differentiator...

[xchaotic]

That particular friend is indeed doing security only, but the idea is there'd be a single person (friends too) specialised in one of the areas, so he can offer the full portfolio of network-related services without spreading oneself too thin.

I know that eceonomy is doom and gloom, but surely there must be a way to grab at least a tiny slice of the market?

[DSW]

I don't really know this market very well, so I will give my expert opinion . I would think that most of the players in this area are reasonably big, so there might be an opportunity to pick up business from smaller companies?

[sooty99]

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requires organisations that use credit cards eg Retailers, to undertake regular internal and external security (penetration) tests. These are comprehensive, covering not just the web site but all the internal infrastructure where credit cards may be processed, stored or transmitted. So PCI DSS may give your friend an angle through which he can generate some business.

[xchaotic]

I don't really know this market very well, so I will give my expert opinion . I would think that most of the players in this area are reasonably big, so there might be an opportunity to pick up business from smaller companies?

I am paying 0.00 for this advice, so I am very well aware of the value of the information I am getting back

Still, you see, small customers is what concerns me a lot, as they're a lot of hassle and very little business. I bet 90% contractors on this board work for big companies and for a good reason - they're the only ones that pay well enough for it to be worth the time spent...

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requires organisations that use credit cards eg Retailers, to undertake regular internal and external security (penetration) tests.

Now that's much more interesting. I heard a lot of online retailers were discussing/complaining, whether they should be audited if they use a 3rd party card authorisation tool like worldpay or google checkout...