Earlier today, we announced a definitive agreement to acquire SMobile Systems, a Columbus, Ohio software company focused solely on smart phones and tablet security for the enterprise, service provider and consumer markets. We expect this deal to close within a few days and will welcome 30 SMobile employees into the Juniper Networks family. SMobile’s management team, including Neil Book, CEO, and Daniel Hoffman, CTO, will report into the Access and Acceleration Business Unit, headed by VP and GM Sanjay Beri.
Juniper’s acquisition history has been limited, and by choice. We only look to acquire companies that fit squarely into our corporate strategy to help drive more benefits to our customer base. The acquisition of SMobile is a perfect example this approach.
It’s no secret that mobile devices are quickly becoming a major (and in some cases THE major) means customers, partners and employees access corporate networks. With this come inevitable security concerns which have plagued “traditional” corporate access in the past. And the market is taking note. As we quoted in today’s press release, the mobile client security market stands to grow to more than $1B by 2014, according to analyst firm Infonetics.
This acquisition will extend our market share leadership in the SSLVPN segment into further thought leadership with a breadth of new capabilities and device coverage that, we believe, is unmatched in the industry.
Juniper recognized the need for better security solution at all endpoints of the network. That’s why we developed and announced Junos Pulse, our innovative network security solution for the next generation of smart devices, at Mobile World Congress last February. SMobile delivers the most comprehensive set of security features, including anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, anti-theft, identity protection, parental controls, compliance enforcement and enterprise controls for all the leading mobile device platforms. It’s simply a great fit for us.
So what does this mean for Juniper, SMobile and, ultimately, our customers? For starters, we will integrate SMobile’s solutions into Junos Pulse, creating the industry’s only secure Internet mobility solution from device, to application, to the network.
Additionally, the SMobile team will become Juniper’s Center of Excellence for secure mobility to help us identify the proper ways to address an expected tide of new threats to networks as they “go mobile.”
All of this will allow Juniper to deliver solutions that enable customers to secure, manage and control smart phones, tablets, netbooks and notebooks within their network through Junos Pulse.
We’ve got great expectations for Junos Pulse, and the addition of SMobile will accelerate this platform and our vision to be a leader in secure mobility. Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.
trumanboyes
on:
The Next Generation
