McAfee Gets In The Infrastructure Management Game

The security vendor on Monday said it struck an agreement to acquire Foundstone for $86 million in cash.

Foundstone, Mission Viejo, Calif., develops and sells a variety of software and hardware products designed to assess and remediate security threats, and inventory and prioritize IT assets.

With Foundstone's tools in hand, McAfee, Santa Clara, Calif., said it plans to take its act up a notch, adding a broader IT infrastructure management offering to its established security and antivirus menu.

"Chief information security officers need a comprehensive view of where their risks are, and business executives need to understand how those risks can translate into business impact. Foundstone enables both," said George Samenuk, chairman and CEO of McAfee, in a statement.

If successful, McAfee could use the Foundstone acquisition to better compete against the likes of Computer Associates International, Islandia, N.Y., which is honing its IT infrastructure management suite to be more security-centric.

Foundstone also brings a proven MSP play to the table, and the company recently launched a channel program: Foundsecure.