EMC slides Archer Technologies into security quiver

Storage behemoth EMC started down the 2010 acquisition trail on Monday by announcing an agreement to purchase Archer Technologies, a privately-held maker of IT governance, risk management, and compliance software.

The vendor did not disclose the acquisition's price tag, but said the transaction is not expected to have a material impact to its revenue or earnings for the full 2010 fiscal year.

Archer's technology will be rolled into EMC's RSA Security division and provide "stronger policy management capabilities" to the existing portfolio, EMC said in a statement.

The Archer portfolio will be added with RSA's data loss prevention and security information and event management products, in addition to EMC's Ionix data center management tools. EMC indicated it would also continue selling Archer's software under both an on-premise and software-as-a-service model.

"Traditional security management focuses primarily on addressing technology issues, but our customers are telling us that their real challenges are in the areas of policy management, audit and compliance," stated Art Coviello, President of EMC's RSA division.

EMC plans to let Archer remain at its headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas after the acquisition is finalized. Archer claims to have more than 6 million licensed users and counts 25 of the Fortune 100 as clients. ®