Symantec dabbles with cloud app aggregation; Launches beta of GoEverywhere

The security company says GoEverywhere is a product of its business incubator that hunts for new business opportunities.

Thus far demand must be doing ok. After registering for the beta I received the following message:

"After processing you will receive an email from our single sign on server: donotreply@myonelogin.com. Some mail tools may detect this as spam so please also check your spam folder for these activation instructions. Notice: due to a greater that expected demand it may take a few days for your account request to be processed."

The larger question is why Symantec is dabbling on the turf of so many companies--Google, EMC's Mozy, Citrix, Zoho and many others. The short answer is that Symantec may not have a choice. As software moves to the cloud and becomes a service Symantec has to play ball. Symantec has already stepped up its software as a service game.

And of course there's also the classic cross selling opportunities. GoEverywhere's beta is targeted at small businesses and individuals. These folks are also natural buyers for Symantec's security suites.

Also see: Gallery: Symantec's GoEverywhere

Whether customers bite remains to be seen, but there is something to be said for a service that aggregates other Web suites--and all the passwords that come with them.

In a nutshell, just GoEverywhere's single sign-on approach may be worth the price of admission.

I haven't had the chance to review GoEverywhere, but Ryan Naraine has played with it a bit.

Here are some screenshots:

Opening screen:

Messaging aggregation:

File browser:

Google Docs login:

Tag navigation: