Security News

Pushing Further Into The Cloud, FireMon Acquires Security Broker FortyCloud

Jimmy Sheridan

October 26, 2016, 05:30 PM EDT

A little more than a year after launching its first cloud infrastructure security management offering, FireMon has acquired cloud infrastructure security broker FortyCloud in a move that boosts its capabilities across all major cloud platforms.

The addition of Tel-Aviv-based FortyCloud’s product to Firemon’s portfolio will improve the company’s capability to effectively secure cloud infrastructure and connectivity, making the transition to cloud easier for enterprise clients starting to move more of their infrastructure to the cloud.

’As companies start adopting cloud, they are in a hybrid environment, … you have to manage both environments and we give them visibility to both their cloud and their local infrastructure,’ Jody Brazil, FireMon co-founder and chief product strategist, said in an interview with CRN.

[Related: Sources: Firemon Executive Exodus Sees CEO, CTO And CISO Departures ]

With the addition of FortyCloud, Brazil said, FireMon has added a number of capabilities that allow it to automate more of its cloud security, policy enforcement, and encrypted, secure connectivity between different public clouds and between an organization’s data center and its new cloud environment.

’Those are all new capabilities that FortyCloud has given to customers in a very consumable way,’ he said, adding that those new capabilities were the biggest reason FireMon moved to acquire the company.

In addition, Brazil said the acquisition will also augment a number of capabilities FireMon already provides, including the ability to help manage and bring visibility to cloud infrastructure, improving Firemon's automated discovery and enforcement offerings in the cloud environment.

Brazil went on to say that FireMon has been impressed with FortyCloud and the customer and market acceptance of its product, noting that FortyCloud’s success in ’real-world environments’ makes this acquisition an important one for FireMon.

Financial details of the acquisition were not released. All of FortyCloud’s 10 employees joined FireMon when the acquisition closed earlier this month.

This acquisition continues the Overland Park, Kan.-based company’s push into cloud, which Brazil said was part of the company’s ongoing evolution as its enterprise clients move into more complex, hybrid environments.

’We don’t think this acquisition is trivial, this is a significant investment for us and a significant commitment to our customers to be ready for them as they move into next-generation infrastructure,’ he said.

Brazil said that FireMon’s evolution has been consistent and ongoing, even though the company’s management has gone through a number of significant changes the last two years.

In May of this year, FireMon saw the departure of three of the company's top executives, including CEO Jim Lewandowski, who was originally hired as president and COO in June of 2015 and moved into the role of CEO in July, replacing Brazil. At the same time, Firemon also lost CTO Brandy Peterson and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Mark Carney.

Lewandowski "was not working out" in his role as CEO, chairman Gary Fish said in an email to CRN at the time, noting that "it was decided he wasn't a fit for the business." Fish also said both Peterson and Carney had been contemplating leaving FireMon when their positions were created, so their departures were not unexpected.

In September FireMon hired security industry veteran Satin H. Mirchandani as the company’s new CEO. Also in September the company hired former Blue Coat Systems channel chief Kurt Mills as FireMon’s VP of worldwide channels. And In October it hired former Surescripts CISO Paul Calatayud as the company’s new CTO in October.