Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Google to buy mobile-device management startup

Google Inc. said it is buying Divide, a mobile device management startup, to help the Internet giant's Android business reach more business customers.

A purchase price wasn't disclosed.

Divide, founded by former Morgan Stanley information-technology executives, helps companies manage the growing number of mobile devices that employees use for work. The startup's main service gives staff the freedom to use a range of devices while letting companies maintain security and control.

Android is the world's most popular mobile-operating system, but isn't as popular within companies. This lucrative enterprise market used to be dominated by BlackBerry (CA:BB)  , (BBRY)  but Apple (AAPL)  , Google (GOOG)  and Microsoft (MSFT)  are making a big push to take share away from the troubled Canada-based company.

AFP/Getty Images

Complicating matters, many companies now allow employees to connect their own smartphones and tablets to the corporate network, a practice known as Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD. That's made life more challenging for corporate-technology managers.

A full version of this story can be found at WSJ.com

No comments:

Post a Comment