Dean Drako, the president and CEO of Eagle Eye Networks, has acquired cloud-based access control system vendor Brivo for $50 million in an effort to expand his grasp on the physical security market.

Drako will assume the role of chairman of Brivo, with current company president and CEO Steve Van Till continuing in his current role.

As a longtime advocate of physical security and the founder of security vendor Barracuda Networks (CUDA), Drako said the acquisition of Brivo will provide him with access to the industry’s best access control system.

“Brivo’s true cloud architecture and open API approach put it a generation ahead of other access control systems,” said Drako, in a statement. “Cloud solutions provide exceptional benefits and Brivo is clearly the market and technology leader. Brivo is also committed to strong, long-standing relationships with its channel partners, which I believe is the best strategy for delivering extremely high customer satisfaction.”

Drako said he will leverage his experience in the physical security market to drive the acceleration of cloud technology throughout the industry. Under his leadership, Brivo will begin selling an integrated solution that combines the Brivo OnAir cloud-based access control system with Eagle Eye Networks’ cloud security camera system.

The joint solution is expected to provide customers with a cloud-based video surveillance and access control system that is bi-directionally integrated using the open APIs from both companies, according to the announcement. Sales are expected to begin in July.

Brivo’s access control system is currently used by more than 6 million users with more than 100,000 access points, according to the company.

“In addition to Dean’s experience founding and leading Barracuda Networks to be a multi-billion dollar company, he has grown his latest company, Eagle Eye Networks, to be the technology leader in cloud video surveillance,” said Van Till.  “We both share the vision of delivering the tremendous advantages of cloud-based systems to our customers.”