I'm sure this has never happened to you.

You choose a web security appliance based on user count and expected traffic profiles. Then marketing rolls out a successful video campaign that goes viral and your users complain about slow internet performance.

You're under the gun to complete your global web security initiative on time and then you receive word that three servers are stuck in customs in a country you have never heard of.

You're moving more and more workloads onto virtual servers to match your business agility objectives when someone from the c-suite asks, "Why do you still have these security appliances? Can't you virtualize them, too?"

If this sounds familiar then you will be happy to learn that as of today, Cisco is offering its market-leading S-Series web security appliances in a virtual form factor: the Cisco Web Security Virtual Appliance (WSAV). You can instantly provision the WSAV where you need them to respond to sudden capacity spikes or to meet business objectives. It runs on VMware ESXi Hypervisor and ?Cisco UCS? servers and you can mix and match deployments of both physical WSA appliances as well as virtual appliances.

Best of all, the WSAV license is included in all Cisco web security appliance software bundles (Cisco Web Security Essentials, Cisco Web Security Antimalware, and Cisco Web Security Premium).  This license can be used for as many virtual machines as needed, making it easier to respond to capacity and budgetary surprises as they happen.

For more information, download the Cisco Web Security Virtual Appliance At a Glance here or contact your preferred Cisco partner.

(Edited 10/2013 with updated licensing information.)