Acquisition may increase Symantec's compliance options |
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By Joan Goodchild, News Writer
12 Jan 2006 | SearchWinIT.com |
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Symantec says its recent acquisition of BindView Development Corp. will broaden compliance options in Windows shops, but taking advantage of the updated product will also mean getting a new license.
Symantec Corp. officials said BindView's products are ideal for organizations faced with managing a large number of Windows desktops installed in remote locations.
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The products will be integrated, so you don't have...to tear out everything if you already have ESM installed.
Suzanne Dickson, Symantec
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Symantec announced it would purchase Houston, Texas-based BindView for $209 million back in October, and the deal was finalized late last week. The Cupertino, Calif.-based Symantec has been on a shopping spree in recent years that also included the purchase of Veritas Software Inc. in 2004.
Suzanne Dickson, director of product marketing at Symantec, said the security software vendor plans to make compliance options more diverse for administrators. Symantec will integrate its Enterprise Security Manager (ESM), an agent-based product, with BindView's two products: bv Control and Compliance Center, which are both agent-less. Dickson said she expected the products would be integrated by the summer and the new product would also require a new license.
"The good news is that you don't need to tear out everything if you already have ESM installed," she said "The products will be integrated, so you don't have to go through that."
Duncan McAlynn is a security expert who runs Boardfish.com, a Web site that offers Symantec product support. He said BindView products have a stellar reputation for network discovery and regulatory compliance.
In the short term, McAlynn said he did not think much would change for administrators. "I don't think from an end user perspective there is an immediate distinction," he said.
McAlynn pointed to the relationship between Symantec and Veritas as an example, saying: "They are still two very separate organizations."
With the BindView deal, Symantec hopes to offer users more comprehensive security expertise, according to David Friedlander, a senior analyst with Forrester Research Inc. in Cambridge, Mass.
"On the compliance side, BindView certainly has a lot of expertise and has one of the stronger products on the market." Friedlander said.
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