Google bags up Postini

Search engine giant continues its relentless growth by snapping up messaging security vendor

Search engine leviathan Google has continued its invasion of the IT channel by grabbing security vendor Postini in a cool $635m deal.

The all-cash agreement is expected to close in the third quarter, after which Postini, which specialises in message security, archiving, encryption and policy enforcement services, will become a fully-owned subsidiary of Google.

The deal comes just days after Google signed a distribution agreement with channel giant Ingram Micro around its Mini and Search Appliance products (CRN, 2 July).

Google hopes the addition of Postini’s hosted security offering will boost sales of its Google Apps offering, which it admitted is yet to gain traction in the enterprise market due to concerns over security and corporate compliance.

Dave Girouard, vice president and general manager of Google Enterprise, said: “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 - employees get the intuitive products they want, and the company achieves the security and assurance it needs.”

Quentin Gallivan, president and chief executive officer of Postini, said: As the market leader in on-demand secure communications and compliance solutions, Postini complements Google perfectly.

“We share a commitment to providing enterprise customers with compelling technology alternatives. This is an exciting milestone, one that will certainly lead to the next level of rapid innovation.”