The reality is that the IT security industry exists to serve itself--not the customer. Whenever we forget that, we're bound to be frustrated by our experience. Consolidation is an inevitable result of what happens when you have big players that cannot innovate, and too many startups innovating on a tight venture-fueled schedule. If you look at it from the industry perspective (or the venture capitalist's), it makes perfect sense that the industry will go through this boom-and-bust cycle.