HP ArcSight buy: The industry impact

The moves by HP and Intel, while they will likely be beneficial for the firms involved and indeed for the end user, could signal some bad times ahead for smaller companies or start-ups looking to make an impact.

"It increases the barrier to entry," Banforth said. "Small companies will have to be even more specialist and differentiated."

Innovations from smaller businesses could also be stifled, he added. If the larger companies gain greater research and development capabilities with their buys, and start-ups therefore fall further behind, then this outcome looks likely.

This would surely, in turn, inform the wider debate about an open approach to technological development versus the monopolistic, proprietary model something that has been coming increasingly to the fore in recent years.

But will the trend of tech giants spending billions on security firms even continue? Should the smaller companies be concerned that this is a reality?

According to Nicolett, if companies are sitting on large amounts of cash as has been reported, then more acquisitions akin to HP's and Intel's could well be on the way.