Web Application Security Testing - The father of SOA Security Testing

Watchfire, the maker of AppScan, a web application security testing with around $20M in annual revenue was acquired by IBM's Rational division for ~$100M. The exact price was not disclosed. Watchfire's competitor, SPI Dynamics, maker of WebInspect was subsequently acquired by HP. SPIDynamics had revenues of 18.5M for 2006 and was bought for ~$120M. Again the exact value of the deal was not disclosed.

What does this all mean for SOA Testing: The next logical step for HP and IBM is to extend web application testing into modern web services-based SOA testing. Although HP's acquisition of Mercury that had acquired Systinet, provides HP "SOA awareness," it makes startups like Crosscheck Networks, iTKO, and Mindreef prime candidates for a deeper relationship with such large vendors that are now poised to address SOA Testing.