Dell bulks up on security with SonicWall buy

Dell on Tuesday announced plans to acquire SonicWALL, a private company based in San Jose, Calif. that offers network security.

A statement from Dell said the acquisition adds 950 employees to the Dell team, as well as new services to its security portfolio, which currently include managed services SecureWorks and vulnerability management KACE.

SonicWall, which makes unified threat management products that include anti-virus, intrusion prevention and VPN protection, currently has more than 130 patents, both registered and pending, and a customer base of more than 300,000 globally.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In a statement, John Swaison, president of Dell Software Group, said the move highlights the company's intent to provide solutions for its customers that are “comprehensive, effective, and easy to implement and manage."

In a conference call reviewing the deal this morning, Dave Johnson, senior vice president of Dell corporate strategy, discussed the importance of augmenting security for the tech giant moving forward.

“With the acquisition of SonicWALL, Dell will be able to bring to market industry leading, differentiated, yet easy-to-manage, security solutions,” he said during the briefing. “Today's announcement is an important step to broaden our software portfolio in the critical area of security.”

The discussion highlighted three issues that cause security headaches for enterprises today: the exponential growth of data, cloud-based solutions, and mobile devices in the workplace.

“These trends create significant business risks,” Swaison said during the call. “SonicWALL gives Dell access to a team with best-in-class resources and technology that will position us very well in the strategic segments of software security.”

In 2010, SonicWALL was purchased by private-equity group Thoma Bravo for $717 million.