EMC had just brought in the new year, but it wanted more. On Jan. 6 it acquired Archer Technologies for its Archer SmartSuite Framework governance, risk and compliance software. At the time, Archer CEO Jon Darbyshire said the company had gone as far as possible and the purchase was crucial to the company's survival.

The software provider was absorbed into EMC's RSA Security division, where EMC indicated it would be coupled with RSA's data loss prevention, security information and event management products.

EMC didn't make another major content management purchase until July, when it announced the acquisition of Greenplum, an innovative database vendor. EMC VP Chuck Hollis said in a blog post that EMC had a long-standing relationship with with the company.

The purchase seemed to be a fit because EMC is, for the most part, in the data storage business; while Greenplum's products are designed to process huge amounts of data. Apparently it was such a good match that post-purchase, EMC created a new division called "Data Computing Products."

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