Email Filtering + Business Email Management

Mergers and acquisitions in the e-mail security space are expected to peak during the next 12 months, as technology players scramble to position themselves in the middle of the big business of message security.

Most recently, Cisco Systems in January announced it has agreed to acquire IronPort Systems, an anti-spam and spyware protection services company, for $830.0 million in cash and stock.

The networking equipment company said the acquisition is a natural extension of its existing security products, which include threat mitigation, confidential communications, management and policy control.

In fact, some observers say the major consolidation in the space is over.

“It’s pretty much done,” said Peter Firstbrook, research director at technology researcher Gartner Inc. However, he speculated CA might be interested in doing a deal. “They don’t have anything is this area,” he said, adding that IBM Corp. might enter the space, too, but has not yet shown any interest.

Gartner projected that mergers and acquisitions in the e-mail security industry will reach their zenith in the next 12 months.

“The more consolidation and the more people using the `good’ software, the better it is for marketers,” Firstbrook said. Firstbrook put together Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Email Security in September, ranking Cisco, MessageLabs, Microsoft, Postini, Secure Computing Corp. and Symantec Corp. in his “leaders quadrant.”

Some of the most attractive acquisition targets, according to some industry watchers, are MessageLabs, MX Logic and Postini.

Mullen, who heads a group called the EMail Experience Council, predicted that the major e-mail security vendors will get very cozy over the next 12 months to solve the security issues, and that in turn will spur further deal activity.

Source: B2B Online