Security firm McAfee has added 14 companies to its Security Innovation Alliance programme.

The company said on Tuesday that the new firms have signed on to support McAfee's ePolicy Orchestrator management platform and add support for the platform to their own offerings.

Among those joining the programme are storage giant Hitachi, rights management vendor Liquid Machines and identity management vendor Courion. McAfee said that the additions bring the list of alliance members to more than 80 firms worldwide.

"In comparison with last year, we have now more than doubled the number of partners," said Ed Barry, senior director of McAfee's Security Innovation Alliance programme.

"Our customers and channel partners can now rely on a partner ecosystem which delivers solutions far more comprehensive than any that can be obtained from any single security vendor."

The Security Innovation Alliance was launched in 2007 alongside ePolicy Orchestrator in an effort by McAfee to establish the tool as a focal point for enterprise security, and allow third-party vendors to supplement the company's own offerings.

Rather than look to expand the reach of its own products into niche markets, McAfee is using the Alliance as a way to appeal to areas in which it has not yet ventured.