Symantec spends $830m on asset management firm

Symantec has announced plans to acquire IT management software company Altiris, in a deal valued at approximately $830m.

Altiris develops software designed to manage and configure corporate assets, such as laptops, mobile devices and servers, in order to reduce their cost and complexity.

John Thompson, Symantec's chief executive, said in a statement: "The most secure end point is a well-managed end point. The best protection must be complemented by the ability to remediate and address vulnerabilities that could be exploited."

The deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, aims to bolster Symantec's end-point offerings for mobile devices, laptops, desktops and servers.

Symantec has been snapping up companies over the last few years to expand beyond security and into business management software. Some of its recent deals have included BindView, for its compliance offerings, and Relicore, a data automation software maker.

Dawn Kawamoto writes for CNET News.com