Two weeks ago I was asked by The Atlanta Business Chronicle to identify tech trends in Atlanta in 2011. I provided six. The first one is below.

1. Liquidity events return.

• A few companies could see significant exits via acquisitions or IPOs (Silverpop, SecureWorks, Vendormate)
• Many smaller firms will be acquired by larger corporations looking to use cash hoard to increase revenue as economy rebounds
• Founders/executives will start to create/look for next opportunities which in general will strengthen the Atlanta startup scene

Today Dell announced that it had acquired SecureWorks in what, if one believes the whispers, is quite the significant deal.  In another surely much smaller deal Enkia was purchased by Sentiment360.

Two business days two deals. The year is starting off with a bang.