SAN FRANCISCO: International Business Machines Corp. and VeriSign Inc. have
reached a broad multi-year partnership to share computer security technology and
market services together, the companies said.
The partnership, scheduled to be announced on Tuesday, will focus on public
key infrastructure (PKI) services, which provide organizations with the ability
to encrypt data and verify the identity of parties in online transactions,
executives said.
The deal is a big win for VeriSign, whose technology and services will reach
a broader market by being resold by IBM Global Services, the largest technology
services provider with more than 20,000 worldwide customers. The financial terms
of the deal were not disclosed.
The first jointly developed offering will be a new service based on VeriSign-managed
PKI services and IBM's Tivoli Policy Director software, which allows
organizations to control who can access data, the companies said.
The service is expected to be available in the second half of 2002, said Anil
Pereira, senior vice president and group general manger of VeriSign's enterprise
and service provider division.
IBM, which appears to be moving away from its own PKI technology with the
alliance, announced that it was making a major push into computer security in
November. At that time, IBM announced a tie-up with Kroll, which provides
physical security services for corporate clients.
(C) Reuters Limited.