IBM Buys Lighthouse to Compliment CrossIdeas Purchase
The Lighthouse Security Group is now a part of IBM. The acquisition of Lighthouse is expected to compliment IBM’s recent acquisition of CrossIdeas which is will enhance cloud security auditing. IBM bought CrossIdeas two weeks ago. The Lighthouse purchase will allow IBM to offer a unique identity management suite which will be expected to couple nicely alongside CrossIdeas.
Like CrossIdeas, Lighthouse Security Group had been a long time partner with IBM. No financial details regarding the deal have been released to the public yet.
With this added functionality of identity management tools, administrators will be able to offer enterprise security and identity management services in the cloud by using IBM’s identity and access management offering. It is expected that IBM’s identity and access management suite will include both CrossIdeas’ and Lighthouse’s baked into the latest release.
Kris Lovejoy, the GM of IBM Security Services, mentions that “With this acquisition, IBM provides a unique identity and access management offering that combines proven software and analytics technology with expert managed services that make it easy for businesses to tackle the complexities of security in this new digital world.”
Eric Maass is the CTO of Lighthouse Security Group commented on his company’s success by saying, “Our ability to match the power and capabilities of traditional enterprise offerings through a cloud-based service set us apart from the competition and fueled our success.”
IBM is positioning itself as being a leader in the cloud security sector. IBM’s multifaceted approach to building out its network of product offerings has helped reestablish IBM as the go to source for all technical consulting needs including cloud, security, enterprise identity management and Big Data. IBM is already the third largest computer security company as rated by Gartner. IBM reported over $1.14 billion in revenue from security related services in 2013. This number represented a 20% increase in year-over-year gains for Big Blue.
