RSA sold to EMC

The $2.1bn merger agreement gives EMC a new interest following forays into content management through its Documentum purchase and virtualisation via the capture of VMware. The company dubs its overarching plan "information lifecycle management" - an old StorageTek line - to suggest the ability to store and manage data from creation to destruction.

EMC CEO Joe Tucci justified the link thus:

"Businesses can't secure what they don't manage, and when it comes to securing information that means simply two things - managing the data and managing access to the data."

RSA is best known for its token-based identity and access management tools. It also hosts the giant RSA Conference that lures security experts the world over.

The event pulled in 14,000 in February. µ

INQBlot EMC often inducts new sales hires by asking them to walk on coals. Really. µ