Symantec buys storage software maker

Security software maker Symantec expanded its disaster recovery portfolio Wednesday with the acquisition of PowerQuest, which sells storage management applications.

Symantec said it plans to create a new line of disaster recovery applications, dubbed Active State Management, by combining its own security software with PowerQuest's imaging, provisioning and storage management architecture. The Active State Management line will initially include software for managing and protecting servers, workstations, laptops and handhelds, Symantec said.

The terms of the deal to buy PowerQuest were not immediately made available. Symantec did say that it expects the merger to close by the end of 2003, pending approval by PowerQuest shareholders and regulators.

"Active State Management is a critical component of the cradle-to-grave management system needed to effectively manage the creation, protection and recovery of (computing devices)," Symantec President John Schwarz said in a statement. "As security becomes a significant factor in ongoing infrastructure management, the combination of security and imaging technologies...will be a powerful force in bringing our customers new IT management capabilities."

The companies maintain that PowerQuest has already completed much of the work necessary to launch Active State Management, including creation of virtual-imaging and server-provisioning tools to complement Symantec security applications such as its Ghost product set.