Financial terms of the deal - slated to close in Q1 - were not disclosed but EMC says the transaction is not expected to have a material impact on revenue or earnings for the full 2010 fiscal year.

Kansas-based Archer claims 36 of the top 40 US financial services institutions as customers for its GRC technology and more than six million licensed users.

The company will by rolled into EMC's RSA security division, extending its portfolio for visualising and managing risk, enabling customers to automate GRC visibility and policy enforcement across both physical and virtualized IT environments, says the vendor.

Art Coviello, president, RSA, says: "The Archer solution not only offers the visibility into risk and compliance that customers need, it brings stronger policy management capabilities to the RSA portfolio. The end result is customers are able to better manage their security programs and prove compliance across both physical and virtual infrastructures, and effectively communicate to the business."