Axent Technologies Inc, the Rockville, Maryland-based network security company has become the latest in this sector to acknowledge the importance of security consultants by buying up its own consultancy. Axent announced Monday that it will acquire Secure Network Consulting Inc, a privately owned information security outfit from San Antonio in Texas. In June, rival CyberGuard Corp purchased a security consulting outfit after realizing that over half of CyberGuard’s sales derived from recommendations made by such security consultants. Customers need planning services to define security strategy, develop policy and assess security, based on business need, said Axent CEO John Becker, although his company declined to disclose the terms of the acquisition. Last December, Axent doubled its size by merging with rival network security firm Raptor Systems Inc.
