Microsoft buys data governance start-up BlueTalon

Microsoft has announced that it has acquired data governance start-up BlueTalon. Startup technology should make it easier for security teams that use Azure to strike a balance between protecting and accessing business data.

BlueTalon has developed a platform that allows companies to centrally manage which employees can access certain internal data, writes Silicon Angle. The software allows security teams to create access rules to popular databases and Hadoop deployments, and monitor or follow those rules.

Administrators can adjust employee rights based on their role in the company, their business department and the sensitivity of the data they need to see. According to the startup itself, the software is used by several Fortune 100 companies.

Acquisition

Microsoft has taken over the startup for an unknown amount. For the company, the takeover is not only about the software, but also about the team. Microsoft would be particularly interested in the engineering team behind the BlueTalon platform. BlueTalon, like many other startups, wasn’t very profitable yet, despite the Fortune 100 customers, there wouldn’t be a strong revenue stream yet. This suggests that the purchase price is relatively low compared to the $27 million that BlueTalon has raised in funding in recent years.

Microsoft plans to integrate BlueTalon’s technology into its Azure Data Governance Group. It can provide an additional service as more and more enterprises shift their big data workloads to the cloud, and there is less demand for traditional solutions from the market.

Mission fulfillment

BlueTalon CEO Eric Tilenius states that the acquisition is a major step towards fulfilling his company’s mission to make data easily and securely accessible in the enterprise by providing high quality data governance and compliance solutions.