Dell buys into security with SecureWorks

Dell has opened up its wallet again and put up the cash for security experts SecureWorks.

The companies have kept quiet about how much money is set to change hands but Dell is keen to push the new capabilities it will give the company in the security space.

During a conference call today, Peter Altabef, president of Dell Services, said the acquisition gave Dell a new direction when it came to security with "three objectives to protect information assets, improve regulatory compliance [and] reduce costs" for its customers.

He said all of the SecureWorks leadership team had "signed on" to the acquisition, allowing the company to focus on its customers rather than re-staffing, and the deal was expected to close within 40 days.

Dell has been on an acquisition spree since its loss in a bidding war to HP in an attempt to purchase virtualisation storage specialists 3PAR. It has since bought up Boomi, Compellent and, most recently, Insite One to bolster its intellectual property suite.

However, Altabef insisted his company was still putting money into its own research and development.

"It is a case of doing both to buy or build in each context," he told IT PRO. "But the security market is growing so quickly to build this on our own would have taken too long."

"Acquiring SecureWorks was an outstanding opportunity that was too good to pass up."

Michael Cote, chief executive (CEO) and chairman of SecureWorks, said becoming part of Dell would allow the company to "take our mature offering, ever evolving but already mature, to the wider Dell customer base."

He added: "Although 15 per cent of StorageWorks customers are in the Fortune 500, we also have strong inroads in small and medium businesses. We can grow across size and industry and when it comes to geographies, our non-US business is set to grow more dramatically [thanks to] Dell."