Novell has acquired security management and compliance
monitoring firm e-Security in a $72m (£40m) deal.
The network software company believes the acquisition will
generate $20m in additional revenues over the next year.
Jack Messman, Novell’s chief executive, said: “Compliance is
changing the way companies think about security and identity
management: the focus now is on automating and reporting results,
as well as responding to events and non-compliant activities as
they happen.
“Novell's acquisition of e-Security demonstrates our commitment
to this growing market.”
Reed Harrison, founder and chief technology officer of
e-Security, said, “Combining Novell's expertise in identity
management with our real-time security event monitoring and
reporting capabilities will create an unmatched solution. As a
member of the Novell family, we can now help redefine how customers
think about security and compliance.”
The acquisition of e-Security comes just days after it emerged
that Novell has itself been the subject of takeover moves. Oracle
chief executive Larry Ellison revealed that he had looked at buying
Novell, in order to add Linux distribution to his company’s
portfolio.