Today IBM announced the acquisition of Lighthouse Security Group, a cloud security services company engaged in identity and access management (IAM).
Just last month, IBM announced the acquisition of Italian cloud security services company CrossIdeas. the company to help enterprises manage user roles and ensure that users do not do anything insecure, non-compliant or illegal. IBM reportedly plans to integrate Lighthouse and CrossIdeas into IBM's current Identity and Access Management (IAM) service to create a suite of identity-centric security software and services.
Lighthouse Security Group, a subsidiary of Lighthouse Computer Services, specializes in enterprise identity and access management, with enterprise security access at its core, providing identity management services to partner companies for employees, customers, vendors and more through the Gateway cloud platform. Security has previously been a partner of IBM, which also has business relationships with defense contractors, national security contractors and others.



Percy Green, director of operations for Lighthouse Security Services, has stated that
Global enterprise business models are rapidly changing and evolving as opportunities for customers to work in environments outside the company become progressively more available. Protecting data and securing access to it is a definite challenge. The planned acquisition will see Lighthouse newly develop a unique suite of identity and access management products that integrate proven software and analytics technology with professional managed services to facilitate the complex security issues that enterprises are dealing with in the new digital world.
Antoine Evans, an IBM security technology executive, has posted that
The acquisition of a cloud security services company to enhance identity management and access data management for cloud and SaaS applications and social networks is a trend in the current Internet business model, and I believe that identity systems and access security management will be an important market for global enterprises in the future. At present, we are developing a module architecture that combines digital identity system, asset management system and programmable transaction service system, which are interlinked and supported by each other. When this module architecture is successfully developed, it will provide a great help to global enterprises and global industrial upgrading and enterprise asset management.
Now that almost everyone can have a network account, the core of the global business model will move to the interoperable network. For the convenience of customers and partners, global enterprises and industries need to upgrade to allow users to access corporate assets while using their network accounts, but at the same time prevent other network accounts from illegally accessing corporate systems. The need for identity and access management will increase, and digital identity systems and asset management systems are in demand by global industries.