Alert Logic Inc., one of the fast-growing security providers capitalizing on the need of organizations to protect the increasing amounts of data moving to the cloud, has picked up Achilles Guard Inc. to inject more analytics into its portfolio. The deal is the latest in the wave of consolidation that has swept through the segment this past year.

The cloud security space has previously seen networking kingpin Cisco Systems Inc. buy security consultancy Neohapsis Inc., while IBM absorbed an identity management outfit called Lighthouse Security Group earlier in 2014. Even Microsoft jumped into the fray last November after acquiring Aorato Ltd. to harness analytics to detect suspicious network activity.

Achilles Guard, which does business under the name Critical Watch, implements a similarly data-driven approach to catching malicious traffic in its platform but takes it a step further and matches specific events to the appropriate security countermeasure. The module is designed specifically to plug into the integrated security suites that traditional organizations rely on to defend their infrastructure, which is the type of solution Alert Logic has been working to deliver.

The company consolidated its services into a unified package dubbed Cloud Defender barely two months ago under the promise of lowering management complexity and reducing prices. Bringing the analytics technology of Achilles Guard into the fold makes that bundle considerably more appealing to customers, especially since competing integrated security providers will presumably no longer have the ability to license the company’s technology for rival solutions.

In addition to the recommendation engine, Alert Logic is also gaining Achilles Guard’s FusionVM solution, which scans the corporate network for vulnerabilities, configuration inconsistencies and compliance discrepancies pertaining to payment processing. That functionality can prove immensely useful to the large organizations that the company is targeting with its platform.

Along with the technology comes a sizable installed base that includes Global 2000 enterprises across roughly a half dozen segments. The addition of those accounts is in itself is a valuable boost for Alert Logic, which competes with bigger vendors such as Palo Alto Networks Inc. and Sourcefire – another Cisco acquisition.

It also helps that Achilles Guard offers pre-existing support for third-party solutions and that the firms are both based in Texas. The deal marks marks Alert Logic’s first buy since it was acquired by private equity powerhouse Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe back in 2013.

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