Symantec&'s IMlogic Buy May Spell Opportunity

Waltham, Mass.-based IMlogic makes security, reporting and management software for instant messaging. Its wares can be layered atop public IM clients from America Online, Microsoft and Yahoo. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The acquisition could provide an opportunity to sell additional products and services, said Gary Cannon, president of Advanced Internet Security, a Symantec enterprise security partner in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“We will be taking a close look at it [IMlogic&'s product line] and seeing what it means for us. It&'s probably a good thing,” Cannon said.

Ken Winell, CTO of VisAlign, a King of Prussia, Pa., Microsoft and IMlogic partner, was intrigued. “It makes sense to have a single portfolio to handle e-mail and IM security, along with other security,” he said.

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In the context of mandated tracking, archiving and managing IM conversations, as well as e-mail by public companies, this deal makes sense, observers say. IMlogic competes with Akonix and Facetime Communications in this arena.

Symantec and IMlogic already partner to deliver solutions for protecting IM from Internet threats and spam. The acquisition will allow Symantec to more easily integrate IMlogic&'s line with its offerings, said Carlin Wiegner, senior director of product delivery at Symantec, Cupertino, Calif. IMlogic&'s threat detection and remediation for IM will be immediately integrated into Symantec&'s early warning and response system and is already integrated with its Enterprise Vault e-mail and content archiving solution.

While some say this deal would signal similar acquisitions of IMlogic rivals, an Akonix executive painted the buyout as a validation.

Said Don Montgomery, vice president of marketing at San Diego-based Akonix: “We think IM hygiene and security will follow the same path as e-mail security. A few years ago, companies like Trend Micro poked around in the market and it was flat for a while and then had rocket growth. Today, there are companies like CipherTrust and Ironport. [They are] multihundred-million-dollar companies devoted to e-mail security, and we think that&'s the path for us.”