Symantec to Acquire Altiris for $830m

By the Betanews Staff | Published January 29, 2007, 2:15 PM

Security software vendor Symantec announced Monday it has agreed to acquire Altiris, a maker of asset management software, in a cash deal valued at about $830 million. Altiris counts Dell, IBM and Microsoft as partners who sell its products to businesses.

Altiris' software helps companies manage and service the desktops, laptops, and other devices used by employees. It also enables them to keep track of back-end infrastructure such as servers and storage hardware. Symantec says the acquisition fits into the company's vision of unified security, as Altiris software makes it easier to know when a system is vulnerable or needs upgrading.

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god F*cking damnit!! that really blows. i love norton and it works well. but i have had nothing but headaches from symantec. their software just strait out sucks! hard! its earning a rep as over hyped under-delivering garbage they can somehow pass as software.

what next.....? microsoft buys apple?

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(sigh) one less competitor in the free market...

...we the people (not the EU or government, as they'll just screw it up worse than it was before just as they always have) need to start doing something about this I think--pretty soon there will be only two companies for every business sector, and perhaps even they will partner up to over price everything. Buying out companies rarely benifits in the long run, but because it does have immediate temporary benefits, it will always benefit the CEO and the other head-hauncho's. Too bad the rest of the company suffers...

What a selfish world we live in today!

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I hate to say it, but the only possible alternative is open source. Retail days are over. Corporations have long ago eliminated the single-man threat (usually by acquisition or legal threats).

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Great. Now Altiris' products can become as bloated as SAV! I can hardly wait!

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