HP Expands Security Portfolio with Voltage Acquisition
by Robert Palmer | 2/11/15
On February 9, HP announced plans to acquire encryption technology vendor Voltage Security. Based in Cupertino, CA, Voltage Security offers a broad array of security solutions, but its flagship product is data encryption and tokenization technology that can be applied to distributed file storage systems, such as Hadoop, and to distributed applications including e-mail, regardless of where the data resides. Founded in 2002, Voltage Security has received multiple rounds of financing and has been growing steadily in the enterprise security market.
According to HP, Voltage’s powerful data protection solutions will be folded into the HP Atalla portfolio, expanding HP’s offerings in data classification, payments security, encryption, tokenization, and enterprise key management. Voltage solutions enable end-to-end protection of payments systems, from card swipe to back-end tokenization, and the firm’s technology serves six of the largest payment processors in the U.S. today.
According to HP, Voltage’s solutions will allow the firm to offer customers “unparalleled data protection capabilities built to close the gaps that exist in traditional encryption and tokenization approaches.” HP says this is particularly important for enterprises that interact with financial payments systems, manage workloads in the cloud, or whose sensitive data flows into Hadoop for analytics, which is particularly to cyber attacks. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of this year, were not disclosed.
Our Take
Data protection is an issue that has reached top-of-mind for businesses of all sizes. The transition to mobile technologies and cloud-based computing means that sensitive business information can reside almost anywhere: in the cloud, on mobile devices, in big data environments, and in applications that may or may not be located in secure environments. Meanwhile, with the Internet of Things (IoT) comes the prospect of a fully connected office environment and potentially an unlimited numbers of connected devices, each of which could become an access or storage location for business data.
With the early onset of BYOD and mobile computing, businesses focused on protecting devices and systems. Increasingly, however, enterprises are investing in security solutions that protect the data itself, not just during access or transmission but also throughout its lifecycle. The ability to use protected data in applications without having to re-architect systems and applications is an important aspect to what Voltage brings to table.
Robert Palmer is chief analyst and a managing partner for BPO Media, which publishes The Imaging Channel and Workflow magazines. He is an independent market analyst and industry consultant with more than 25 years experience in the printing industry covering technology and business sectors for prominent market research firms such as Lyra Research and InfoTrends. In December 2012 he formed Palmer Consulting as an independent consultancy focused on transformation, mobility, MPS, and the entire imaging market. Palmer is a popular speaker and presents regularly at industry conferences and trade events in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. He is also active in a variety of imaging industry forums and currently serves on the board of directors for the Managed Print Services Association (MPSA). Contact him at robert@bpomedia.com.
