Sumo Logic Acquires DFLabs: Cloud SIEM, SOAR Security Software Converge

Sumo Logic is acquiring DFLabs. The deal will empower MSSPs and MSPs with more security automation capabilities by combining Sumo Logic’s cloud-native SIEM (security information and event management) platform with DFLabs' SOAR (security orchestration, automation and response) software. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This is M&A deal number 170 that MSSP Alert and sister site ChannelE2E have covered so far in 2021. See all technology M&A deals for 2021 and 2020 listed here.

The Sumo Logic-DFLabs deal is expected to close around mid-2021. At that time, DFLabs CEO Dario Forte and the DFLabs team will join Sumo Logic’s Security Business Unit. The resulting Sumo Logic SOAR solution will allow the "linkage of upstream emerging DevSecOps models with the downstream SOC workflows, closing the loop for adaptive cloud scale defense," the buyer says.

Ahead of the deal, customers already as much as a 10x improvement in SecOps productivity when implementing DFLabs' IncMan SOAR platform, the seller says.

Sumo Logic Acquires DFLabs: MSSP and MDR Security Partner Details

Both Sumo Logic and DFLabs design their software for MSSPs (managed security service providers), MDRs (managed detection and response service providers) and MSP partners.

DFLabs began to more aggressively support MSSPs and MDR partners in 2019. From that point forward, the SOAR platform allowed MSSPs and MDRs to "simultaneously manage security operations across multiple customer environments, regardless of the security products deployed at each customer site," the company said at the time. Early partners include CyberGate, an MSSP in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, Sumo Logic has a growing base of MSSP partners. The company's cloud-native SIEM was built as a multi-tenant system for managed security services providers from the start, Sumo Logic Co-Founder and CTO Christian Beedgen told MSSP Alert in 2020.

Sumo Logic: Growing MSP Partner Momentum

Together, Sumo Logic and DFLabs will continue that partner focus. According to the buyer: "The acquisition will broaden Sumo Logic’s portfolio as well as a rich joint ecosystem of customers and partners including MSPs, MDRs and VARs, while accelerating the companies’ mutual strategy to deliver the automation needed to modernize the SOC."

During Sumo Logic's earnings call on March 10, CEO Ramin Sayar further described the company's overall partner effort. He stated:

Sumo Logic now has more than 400 MSP partners, and the company's MSP channel more than doubled year-over-year in 2020 vs. 2019, Sayar said.

Sumo Logic: SIEM and SOAR Next Moves

In a prepared statement about the DFLab deal, Greg Martin, VP and general manager of Sumo Logic Security Business Unit:

Added Dario Forte, CEO of DFLabs:

The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including certain government approvals in Italy -- where DFLabs is based.

SOAR: Hot Security Market

The overall SOAR market remains in rapid growth mode. Indeed, SOAR-related revenues are expected to reach $1.82 billion by 2025, a 15 percent compound annual growth rate from 2018, according to Adroit Market Research.

With an eye toward that market opportunity, multiple security companies are making SOAR-related business moves. For instance:

Also of note: Both Google Chronicle and Microsoft Azure Sentinel could also have cloud SIEM and SOAR implications for MSPs and MSSPs.

Sumo Logic: Cloud SIEM Growth

Meanwhile, Sumo Logic's cloud-native SIEM platform remains in growth mode. For its Q4 of fiscal 2021, revenue was $54.2 million -- up 22 percent compared to Q4 in fiscal 2020, the company said on March 10, 2021.

And for the first quarter of fiscal 2022, Sumo Logic expects total revenue of between $53.2 million and $54.2 million, representing 13% to 15% growth year over year, the company added.