Dealing with fewer vendors is easier, especially if those vendors are big technology firms like Symantec, Microsoft or Cisco Systems--all three have been busy security shoppers, particularly Symantec, with a dozen purchases in six years. "We have a lot more leverage with those companies," McKenna says. "We're not just buying $30,000 worth of products from them. We're buying a lot more. And when we have issues, we can call and get action."

Other security executives cite product integration and fewer vendors to deal with as key benefits of consolidation.

"I prefer working with fewer vendors," says Joseph Granneman, manager of networking and data security at Rockford Health System, a health care provider based in Rockford, Ill. "You just don't have enough staff t...

Standardizing and reducing the number of security products in an organization-- without sacrificing a defense-in-depth approach--minimizes configuration errors that can lead to a breach, Granneman adds.

Consolidation also provides interoperability, saving a user the time and pain of having to figure out how to get products to work together, says Kevin Dickey, CISO for Contra Costa County in northern California. "Eventually what happens is the industry starts to flesh out the best-of-breed."

Prices go down, and it takes fewer calls to get problems resolved with fewer vendors, he adds.

Douglas Brown, manager of security resources at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, agrees that an acquisition can mean better pricing.

"The standalone, 50-person startups have a very high price point on their product because they've got bills to pay and they're trying to keep their heads above water," he says. "But when the acquisition goes through, that product is rolled into a space with a lot of other products. All of the sudden, there's a lot more wiggle room for the sales folks to work with you on pricing."

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