SolarWinds adds internal security depth with 8MAN buy

IT management player SolarWinds has become the latest example of a firm using acquisition as a means of strengthening the security it can offer.

The firm has splashed out an undisclosed sum on German Access Rights Management (ARM) player 8MAN to add more depth to its portfolio.

“SolarWinds is once again, doing what we have done for almost 20 years—identifying gaps in the solution set for our customers and then working to fill that gap with an easy-to-use, affordable solution," said Kevin Thompson, CEO of SolarWinds.

The firm already has a series of security tools that help deal with external threats but the addition of an ARM product will help users deal with internal issues around system and data access.

"We will put their pricing and packaging into our go-to-market methodology that is focused on delivering products that are powerful, easy to use, and scalable—designed to give businesses the ability to protect their IT environments efficiently and cost-effectively," added Thompson.

"We understand the unique challenge security presents—and many organisations are focused primarily on external threats,” he added.

In response, Stephan Brack, CEO of 8MAN, said that becoming part of a larger organisation was always part of its strategic plan.

“We built a solution that’s designed to help IT operations and security admins improve their security by managing user access, demonstrate compliance, and automate more time-consuming tasks like user provisioning and deprovisioning. Their technology expertise and growing security portfolio make SolarWinds a perfect fit to get this product distributed worldwide," he said.

The access management market is set to grow steadily over the next few years. An analysis of the market from Zion Market Research forecast that the global market would reach $15.92bn in 2022 with a CAGR of 12.5% for the five years between 2017 and 2022.