Google buys Postini
Managed security service snapped up by giant.
Ever-expanding web giant Google has continued its growth into both security and software-as-service
spheres with the $625 million acquisition of major email security provider Postini.
Managed service provider Postini was set up in California in 1999 and now boasts 14 data centres around the
world, with 35,000 businesses and 10 million end users protected by its web, IM and email services, which process
1 billion messages per day. The company also offers archiving, encryption and compliance services, and claims a
45% share of the managed service market. The company claims to offer significant advantages of herd immunity from
its large customer base and broad overview of global email and web activity, as well as easy transition processes
for new customers and minimal admin overheads.
Google's 'Google Apps'-branded software-as-a-service range, which covers email provision from
Gmail as well as messaging, calendar and office software offerings, is now used by 100,000 businesses,
with 1,000 new small businesses signing up daily. Postini will become a wholly owned subsidiary of
Google in a deal worth $625 million in cash, which should be completed by late autumn this year.
'This move, hot on the heels of the purchase of GreenBorder,
will bolster rumours that Google may be looking to add a specialist anti-virus firm to its security
portfolio,' said John Hawes, Technical Consultant at Virus Bulletin.
'Postini currently includes malware protection provided by McAfee and Authentium, as well as
its own in-house technology, but it seems more likely than ever that Google will want to bring anti-malware
in-house, and with this kind of spending power just about anyone is within their reach.'
A press release detailing the acquisition is
here (at Google) or
here (at Postini), and some commentary
from a CNN Money blogger is
here.
09 July 2007
Tags:
acquisition, corporate, google, postini.
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