Red Hat, owned by of IBM, is acquiring StackRox, a provider of container and Kubernetes-native security software. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This is M&A deal number 17 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2021. See all technology M&A deals for 2021 and 2020 listed here.
StackRox aligns with the Red Hat OpenShift strategy -- which is designed to help partners build, deploy and securely run nearly any application across multiple clouds.
Red Hat is the cornerstone to IBM CEO Arvind Krishna's business evolution plan. Krishna has been doubling down on hybrid cloud software, while also planning to spin off IBM's managed infrastructure services business.
StackRox has a partner program that spans service providers, resellers and systems integrators who focus on DevOps and security services for Kubernetes environments. The company's partners include distributor Synnex, Tech Data's DTL business, and Top 250 MSSPs such as FishTech Group and and Optiv.
StackRox, founded in 2014, evolved over the past two years to focus on Kubernetes security, Red Hat says. StackRox raised $26.5 million in new funding in September 2020.
In addition to Red Hat OpenShift, StackRox will continue to support multiple Kubernetes platforms, including Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), the buyer says.
Red Hat plans to open source StackRox’s technology post-acquisition. Also, Red Hat will continue to support the KubeLinter community as well as new communities as Red Hat works to open source StackRox’s offerings.
