When power players envision new market opportunities, they can become so eager for success that they fail to distinguish between true customer need and wishful thinking. Those that put fantasy above reality either don’t survive, or don’t deliver on their promises as advertised. Only one thing is certain — for every move one player makes in a hot technology area, others will make countermoves.

At stake in these maneuvers is the way you build, manage and secure the enterprise network. Read on for an analysis of six battles for power taking shape in the network industry.

Security: Everyone wants in

Everyone wants to be a security vendor, and Cisco, IBM and Microsoft are no exception. It's no wonder: Even during years of anemic IT spending, security budgets get bigger-than-average boosts.

Sometimes new faces in the IT security world mean good things for enterprises. Microsoft's recent efforts to offer antivirus and antiphishing tools are pressuring the incumbent vendors, including McAfee and Symantec, to improve their wares. "That's spurred the oligopoly to get back to innovating and spurred price competition," says John Pescatore, a security analyst at Gartner.

But not all the big guns belong in the IT security business. Acquiring Internet Security Systems with its intrusion-detection and -prevention appliances doesn't mean IBM will fare well in the world of network security products, Pescatore says. "IBM is not a network company; it's a host, software and services company," he says.

Nor should EMC expect to simply buy its way into security prominence with its purchase of RSA Security. Vendors often rationalize such buyouts with the notion that enterprises are looking to spend their IT budgets on fewer providers. But enterprises aren't going to gamble on an unproven security provider just because the vendor is well regarded in other IT markets.

The bottom line is that enterprise security pros are smart shoppers. Just because Cisco, IBM and Microsoft are off the sidelines doesn't mean they get to control the game. The threats control the market, and smaller specialists with innovative security products will still turn IT buyers' heads. "The big guys are never the ones who react first with new answers to the new threats," Pescatore says.