EMC Buys RSA

I just posted yesterday that the M&A market in the identity space seems to be slowing down, and then POW, a huge acquisition is announced today (Over $2 Billion!!).

What does this mean?
Well for one, acquisitions are still somewhat alive in the identity market. It might be that this sets off a few more acquisitions. There are a number of boutique shops, and a number of large players with weaknesses here or there. For example, Microsoft could use a better provisioning solution, and a number of companies are weak on federation and such. So, there is room and need for acquisitions in the IdM space, although in my opinion, this would be the final round.

What does it mean for RSA and their partners? (We are, and unfortunately, this is the first I've heard about this deal). Well, in my opinion, its a positive thing. EMC is notorious for their aggressive sales machine. They might be able to give life to RSA sales.


Also, RSA has been pigeonholed as the "keyfob guys", and they have been unsuccessful in their attempts to rebrand themselves as a holistic identity company. This might give their other products (which are pretty damn good) a chance to shine. They have a great web access management tool that has been around forever (Cleartrust), they have a SSO solution (I believe they OEM Passlogix' V-Go), and a federation product (FIM) that desperately need some marketing attention.

Another possible positive is if EMC delivers on their promise to integrate RSAs product into their information management line of products. If this happens, in similar style to the way Oracle has been able to pull off the integration of the companies they acquired (even if only as a marketing ploy), then this is great news for RSAs product line.

All in all, a good move for RSA. As for EMC, that depends on what they do with it.

Technorati tags: Identity Management, RSA, EMC, Acquisition