IBM Up-Ends Security

An 800-pound gorilla threw its weight into the security market today, and analysts say the impact could send the industry reeling in a whole new direction.

IBM earlier today bought Internet Security Systems (ISS), one of the industry's oldest and best-known independent security vendors, for a tidy $1.3 billion in cash. Big Blue, which has made four other acquisitions in the last month, says it will keep ISS intact as an independent unit and will not lay off any of its workers. (See IBM Buys ISS.)

But IBM clearly has new plans for ISS. The security software vendor, which has been a supplier of point products for more than a decade, will be integrated into Big Blue's managed security services business, transforming it from software vendor to service provider in a single move.

"Our managed security services and on-demand capabilities have consistently been one of our strongest growth areas up to now, and that's been almost entirely driven by customers who say they want security as a service," says Tom Noonan, CEO of ISS, who will stay on to head up IBM's security business.

Get the full story at Dark Reading.Tim Wilson, Site Editor, Dark Reading and Dave Raffo, News Editor, Byte and Switch