Google is buying email security specialist Postini for $625 million, fortifying the Internet search leader's effort to sell online software services to corporate customers seeking alternatives to Microsoft's long-dominant products, an Associated Press report said.
The Associated Press report said the all-cash deal is aimed at reassuring large businesses that have had qualms about entrusting Google to oversee their email systems and other vital applications because of security concerns.
Google began selling companies a low-cost suite of online software that includes email, calendaring and word processing in February, hoping to diversify its revenue beyond Internet advertising and perhaps siphon money away from Microsoft, one of its biggest rivals, the report said.
Google and other Internet companies are threatening Microsoft's stronghold by offering free or low-cost software applications that are hosted online so they don't have to be installed on the hard drives of individual computers, the report added.
Google believes it will offer potential customers more peace of mind with Postini's added expertise, the report said.Google anticipates closing the deal before October, the report said.