ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) — Dell Inc. has a deal to buy the data security firm SecureWorks Inc., the company said Tuesday, another acquisition aimed at taking Dell beyond the personal computer market.
The company has been looking to expand into lines of business that promise bigger profits, a trend led by tech peers including Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp.
The deal for SecureWorks taps into the growing need of large businesses and other organizations to protect sensitive information on their networks. HP made a similar deal in September when it paid $1.5 billion for network security provider ArcSight Inc.
Dell's latest acquisition is also consistent with the shift to delivering technology and services over the Web rather than licensing software that is hosted on a customer's own servers.
Dell did not say how much it is paying for SecureWorks, which is privately held and based in Atlanta. It said the company has 700 employees and 2,900 customers in 70 countries. SecureWorks had revenue of more than $120 million in fiscal 2010, Dell said.