Good Technology Buys Copiun, Gains Collaboration Tools

10 Essential Android Apps For SMBs

Good Technology, the Silicon Valley-based provider of enterprise-grade mobile management products, has announced a deal to acquire privately-held, venture-funded start up Copiun, Inc.

As mobile devices have proliferated across the workplace, so too have the security concerns and configuration logistics that IT departments face: making documents available to on-the-go workers, and supporting secure file access for not only corporate-issued devices but also employees' personal smartphones and tablets. Good's move should help the company manage these evolving challenges.

By absorbing Copiun, Good gains the ability to integrate more fully-featured mobile collaboration tools into its portfolio of products. Judging from existing Copiun offerings, these tools will aim to preserve ease-of-use for end users while also providing businesses full control over how sensitive data is accessed and modified by employees in the field.

The purchase, which is still subject to closing conditions and for which terms were not disclosed, follows the release of Copiun TrustedShare for Good, which was announced in May. This earlier collaboration offers insight into the capabilities on which Good will build future products.

TrustedShare for Good permits employees to access, share, sync, and modify secure access files using a variety of mobile devices and platforms--an important productivity factor for businesses that have embraced mobile workforces or BYOD policies. Ease of use and leveraging of existing infrastructure are facilitated by native support for a variety of apps and tools, including Microsoft SharePoint.

[ Read 7 Ways To Toughen Enterprise Mobile Device Security. ]

In addition to these end-user values, the product also supplies IT departments with end-to-end control over documents throughout their life cycles. These capabilities include wrapping documents in Good's AES 192 encryption to provide a secure, FIPS 140-2 certified package--useful for ensuring not only security integrity but also compliance with U.S. federal standards.

TrustedShare for Good also enables access to files without a VPN or reconfigured firewall. This feature avoids unreliable connections that can enervate employee productivity, saves IT staff from manual efforts such as opening ports, and mitigates the chance that security vulnerabilities will inadvertently be opened. Additional tools include managing document access, including setting expiration policies and multi-level entitlement policies.

Michael Davis, CEO of Savid Technologies, said in an email that the acquisition was a good maneuver because it enhances Good's data-sharing capabilities. Prior to the deal, "Good's control ended on the mobile device," he said, meaning the company's existing products lack monitoring and management of the file server or corporate network. Copiun, he claimed, provides "end-to-end security and control."

Good will retain Copiun's full-time personnel and convert Copiun's headquarters in Marlborough, Mass., into a Good Technology office. Copiun CEO and co-founder Puneesh Chaundhry will oversee the TrustedShare product line and join Good's leadership team. The deal is expected to close in September.

Download the debut issue of InformationWeek's Must Reads, a compendium of our best recent coverage on enterprise mobility in our new easy-to-read and -navigate Web format. Included in this issue of Must Reads: 6 keys to a flexible mobile device management strategy; why you need an enterprise app store; and Google points to the future of mobile. (Free registration required.)