Google addresses Google Apps security with Postini buy

Google is adding another company to its stable as it increasingly targets the enterprise. With Postini, Google is looking to remove security as a roadblock to Google Apps adoption in the enterprise.

Google said Monday it will acquire Postini, an on-demand communications security and compliance company, for $625 million in cash. Google's goal: Secure Google Apps and make sure security isn't a big drag on its Google Apps "revolution."

Dan Farber reported Friday that Dave Girouard, general manager of Google Enterprise noted that security and compliance was a roadblock to Google Apps adoption.

“You could use whatever compliance system with Google Apps. The [revolution] will go faster when it’s brain-dead easy to [adopt hosted apps] and you don’t have to worry about getting fired for doing it. Archiving, compliance and legal discovery will be taken care of in the simplest fashion. We are very focused on that,” Girouard said.

Indeed, Postini provides services--encryption, policy enforcement and archiving--to secure Web-based communication such as instant messaging and email. In other words, Postini complements Google as it tries to get enterprises to use Google Apps.

Here's how Google assessed the Postini purchase in a statement:

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," said Girouard.

With Postini, as well as its recent partnership with Salesforce, it's clear that Google sees itself as an on-demand enterprise applications provider. The big question is whether enterprises will see Google that way.

Postini could give Google an entry to a wider customer base. Postini servers 35,000 businesses and 10 million users. The Postini purchase is expected to close in the third quarter.