[ISN] Google bags hosted security firm Postini for $625m

From: InfoSec News (alerts@private)
Date: Mon Jul 09 2007 - 23:15:20 PDT


http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/09/google_postini/

By John Leyden
9th July 2007

Updated - Google has announced a plan to acquire on-demand web security 
firm Postini for $625m cash. The deal, which is subject to regulatory 
approval, is expected to close by end of the third quarter 2007, after 
which Postini will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Google.

Postini's services - which include email filtering, archiving, 
encryption, and policy enforcement - are used to protect customers' 
email, instant messaging and other web-based communications from 
security threats and productivity drains such as spam and viruses. The 
firm competes with firms such as MessageLabs and BlackSpider (which was 
bought by SurfControl for around $42m in July 2006, prior to its own 
$400m acquisition in April 2007).

Postini's technology is used by 10 million users at 35,000 firms 
worldwide. BlackSpider protects 500,000 users at 1,200 customers (mainly 
in Europe). The difference in size goes a long way towards explaining 
why Google paid 15 times more for a similar set of hosted security 
technologies.

Google said it plans to use Postini's technology to boost the appeal of 
its Google Apps package of hosted office applications to larger 
businesses. It also pledged to continued to invest in Postini's existing 
line of hosted security products.

"The response to Google Apps has been tremendous, with more than 1,000 
small businesses signing up for the service every day. At the same time, 
large businesses have been reluctant to move to hosted applications due 
to issues of security and corporate compliance. By adding Postini 
products to Google's technology, businesses no longer have to choose," 
said Dave Girouard, VP and general manager of Google Enterprise.

In a conference call, Girouard added without giving figures that there 
had been "significant interest" from large business about Google Apps 
but that complex security requirements and meeting regulatory compliance 
have acted as a barrier. "Up to date we have focused on partnerships to 
resolve these issue but we recognised it's in our own interest to pull 
things together" by buying a technology that can boost its hosted apps 
business.

Both firms said delivering software as a service offered several 
beenfits to customers such as ease of implementation and taking away 
maintenance headaches. "off the shelf software doesn't work," said Scott 
Petry, founder and CTO of Postini.

Google's Girouard added: "Software as a service is a better delivery 
method. Google didn't invent this, that was down to others, but we 
intend to capitalise on it." ®



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