Being an admirer of all things Google, I couldn’t keep myself away from writing this small update (you all have got a whiff already by now). In a major move to counter Microsoft’s influence in the business application market, Google has acquired a security software outfit called Postini. A few basic queries are answered below:
What does Postini do?
Postini’s services helps businesses to encrypt and monitor on-line information which include e-mails, instant messaging and other web communications. It also helps enforce corporate policies from a single hosted location. A leader in its field, Postini serves more than 35,000 businesses and 10 million users and was one of the first partners for Google Apps.
How does this acquisition help Google?
The acquisition will strengthen Google’s array of services called the Google Apps Premier Edition that includes Gmail, Calendar, GoogleTalk, Docs & Spreadsheets, and Personal Start Page and offer greater on-line security to its customers.
How much did it cost Google to acquire Postini?
This is its third biggest acquisition after DoubleClick and YouTube. Google has paid $625 million in cash to acquire Postini as per the official press release on its website.
Why is it considered a breakthrough deal for Google?
Google is eyeing a chunk of the $12 billion market of business applications which is dominated by not only Microsoft’s Office applications but also IBM Lotus and some compatible tools from Apple [read here]. According to this press release, hosted services like Google Apps and Postini will enable organizations to perform business effectively without the expense and hassle of traditional on-premise tools (like Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.).
Reference Links:
› Google Press Release on the Postini Acquisition
› Googleblog post by Dave Girouard, Vice President & GM, Google Enterprise
› Businessweek.com article on the take-over
› A list of FAQs from the Postini website on the Google acquisition
› List of Google acquisitions on Wikipedia
