In July of last year, I prognosticated that Google with it's various acquisitions was entering the security space with the intent to not just include it as a browser feature for search and the odd GoogleApp, but a revenue-generating service delivery differentiator using SaaS via applications and clean pipes delivery transit in the cloud for Enterprises.
My position even got picked up by thestreet.com. By now it probably sounds like old news, but...
Specifically, in my post titled "Tell Me Again How Google Isn't Entering the Security Market? GooglePOPs will Bring Clean Pipes..." I argued (and was ultimately argued with) that Google's $625M purchase of Postini was just the beginning:
This morning's news that Google is acquiring Postini for $625 Million dollars doesn't surprise me at all and I believe it proves the point.
In fact, I reckon that in the long term we'll see the evolution of the Google Toolbar morph into a much more intelligent and rich client-side security application proxy service whereby Google actually utilizes client-side security of the Toolbar paired with the GreenBorder browsing environment and tunnel/proxy all outgoing requests to GooglePOPs.
What's a GooglePOP?
These GooglePOPs (Google Point of Presence) will house large search and caching repositories that will -- in conjunction with services such as those from Postini -- provide a "clean pipes service to the consumer. Don't forget utility services that recent acquisitions such as GrandCentral and FeedBurner provide...it's too bad that eBay snatched up Skype...
Google will, in fact, become a monster ASP. Note that I said ASP and not ISP. ISP is a commoditized function. Serving applications and content as close to the user as possible is fantastic. So pair all the client side goodness with security functions AND add GoogleApps and you've got what amounts to a thin client version of the Internet.
Here's where we are almost a year later. From the Ars Technica post titled "Google turns Postini into Google Web Security for Enterprise:"
The company's latest endeavor, Google Web Security for Enterprise, is now available, and promises to provide a consistent level of system security whether an end-user is surfing from the office or working at home halfway across town.
The new service is branded under Google's "Powered by Postini" product line and, according to the company, "provides real-time malware protection and URL filtering with policy enforcement and reporting. An additional feature extends the same protections to users working remotely on laptops in hotels, cafes, and even guest networks." The service is presumably activated by signing in directly to a Google service, as Google explicitly states that workers do not need access to a corporate network.
The race for cloud and secure utility computing continues with a focus on encapsulated browsing and application delivery environments, regardless of transport/ISP, starting to take shape.
Just think about the traditional model of our enterprise and how we access our resources today turned inside out as a natural progression of re-perimeterization. It starts to play out on the other end of the information centricity spectrum.
What with the many new companies entering this space and the likes of Google, Microsoft and IBM banging the drum, it's going to be one interesting ride.
/Hoff