SecureWorks is best known for its managed security services, security and risk consulting, and threat intelligence. The firm counts Fortune Global 500 companies, midsize businesses, financial services, utilities, health care, retail and manufacturing companies among its clients.

In announcing the acquisition, Peter Altabef, president of Dell Services, said the frequency and sophistication of technology attacks and attempts to access data require reliable, capable and innovative information security.

"SecureWorks is a recognized industry leader in information security services, and its offerings and expertise will immediately enhance our solutions portfolio," Altabef said. "We look forward to welcoming SecureWorks team members -- who bring their passion and dedication to serving clients with best-in-class security services -- to Dell and our clients."

Anatomy of SecureWorks

SecureWorks clients rely on its technology to reduce risk, improve regulatory compliance, and lower costs of managing IT security. The company's proprietary threat-management platform is scalable and integrates with client environments. And its counterthreat research team works to help protect clients across multiple industries from global IT threats.

SecureWorks processes more than 13 billion security events and sees more than 30,000 malware specimens each day. The company has more than 1,500 banks and credit unions as managed security clients and is protecting trillions of dollars in financial assets.

"Dell's global scale and relationships with clients provides a tremendous opportunity to rapidly expand SecureWorks' business," said Michael Cote, CEO and chairman of SecureWorks. "With Dell's commitment to our clients, our team and our market, I am confident that SecureWorks will flourish as part of the Dell Services organization and that our clients will continue to be well-served and well-protected by the services on which they rely."

A Lucrative Niche

The SecureWorks acquisition is Dell's latest strategic investment in its portfolio of enterprise -class IT-as-a-service solutions. Dell said building its capabilities as a managed security service provider (MSSP) is an important next step in its strategy to help clients drive better efficiency across the enterprise and dramatically simplify IT infrastructure management.

Dell has had a big footprint in the health-care IT-services market for years, noted Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, but SecureWorks is an interesting play with a different kind of industry focus. SecureWorks has made headway into the financial-services space.

"This is representative of the sort of acquisition strategy that we've been seeing from Dell since Michael Dell returned to the company," he said. "Getting SecureWorks creates some really interesting future market opportunities for Dell, but it makes them a big player in one of the most lucrative sectors. This is a great deal for Dell."