HP buys Arcsight

Just read this in the Wall Street Journal:

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) agreed to buy security-software maker ArcSight Inc. (ARST) for about $1.5 billion, continuing the company's spending spree that began after Chief Executive Mark Hurd resigned last month.

I wonder if, as the article implies, this leads to additional consolidation within the security market. I did like what ArcSight was trying to achieve around identity with their SIEM capabilities by integrating identity management into the SIEM equation:

ArcSight IdentityView is a specialized solution module, built on the ArcSight SIEM Platform, designed to enhance the value of IAM technologies. It combines the broad activity collection and correlation of SIEM with the user and role management of IAM. As a result, organizations realize the value of their IAM investment more quickly, get a complete picture of user activity, and can pass compliance audits with confidence.

It will be interesting to see both if HP can be successful with their integration of ArcSight and if they manage to value (and keep) the IAM part of this technology.

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