Dell To Splash On Security Again With Credant Deal

Tech titan Dell is to splash more money on security, announcing an agreement to acquire Credant Technologies, a data protection and encryption firm.

Credant will join Dell’s security arm, which has been bolstered in recent times with acquisitions of SecureWorks, SonicWall and Quest Software. During its Dell World 2012 conference this month, it formed a partnership with zero-day exploit detector FireEye, telling TechWeekEurope it had no plans to acquire in that area.

Dell is gaining a reputable data loss protection (DLP) firm in Credant, which can work across mobile operating systems, which will help the company push its “bring your own device” (BYOD) strategy.

Dell gets Credant

According to Dell, Credant currently secures more than 2 million endpoints. It is set to form part of Dell’s emerging mobile device management play. It also appears Dell will be pushing Credant solutions via its more consumer-focused businesses.

“The Credant assets will complement and extend current Dell device security features to make Dell Latitude, OptiPlex and Dell Precision computers among the world’s most secure,” said Jeff Clarke, president of end user computing solutions at Dell.

“When combined with the change in compute behaviors and data in-flight, Dell can now offer a differentiated security proposition based on its own intellectual property.”

It’s not for nothing that companies have been chucking money at BYOD-focused vendors. Citrix believes it now has the full mobile device management package, after it bought Zenprise.

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