Unified threat management systems combine very different security systems on a single platform and thus provide security for the entire network with just a single system at a single central point. What is more, they do so without losing the flexibility of conventional security systems.
The individual security components can be used, but do not need to be. The rapid breakthrough of these systems is due, among other things, to the system consolidation that has taken place and the potential it has opened up for cutting both investment and running costs.