The industry leader in security-oriented software, Symantec, has agreed to acquire the industry leader in data protection (backup) software, Veritas. Both companies’ products support multiple platforms with offerings for every size organization which makes them a good fit based on their product line-ups.
The more interesting aspect of this merger has to do with the intertwining of security and data protections. Until now, we’ve seen data as the treasure needing protection internally and security acting as the fort’s protector. This merger may be pointing to a more coordinated scheme of protection. One potential scenario would be having the security system being able to communicate with the backup system in the event a virus has penetrated the system in order to have the virus-infected file removed from any backups on the system along with the online file itself.
Another way to see benefits from this merger is the potential for one-stop shopping for data protection/security making purchasing and updating easier.
In any event, the new Symantec has taken a big step in preventing their being purchased by a larger software company. As well, Symantec has improved the attractiveness of their suite of products as another large software company readies a competing security product. |
