The cloud software manufacturer has now revealed that it will be buying the company for $1.54 billion.
VMware Inc., a cloud software maker, has now announced that it will be buying AirWatch, which is a privately held mobile security provider, for a purchase price of $1.54 billion.
The goal is to allow the companies to secure a place in meeting demands from companies for securing devices.
As a growing number of employers are allowing their workers to use their own mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, they are also placing themselves at an increased risk. Therefore, there is currently a rapidly rising demand from businesses for a way to secure those employee owned gadgets, as well as those that are owned by the companies but that are used by the employees, for that matter.
Some analysts see this mobile security acquisition as a threat to BlackBerry’s traditional position of dominance.
The reason that they feel this way is that BlackBerry Ltd. has, for many years, been the automatic choice for companies that are seeking to protect themselves with security products. That said, other analysts are saying that this new acquisition could lead to a rash of additional buyouts throughout this market.
The first steps that VMware, itself, had made into this market were only recent ones. It’s primary business has been in the manufacture of virtualization software, which produces a type of virtual machine which behaves in a way that is comparable to an actual computer. This gives companies the opportunity to slash their IT expenses by reducing the need for storage space and servers.
According to Pat Gelsinger the CEO of VMware, when interviewed about the deal, “AirWatch will be the center of our mobile activities,” adding that “We are really bringing together the strength we have in PCs and desktops with AirWatch’s in the mobility space.”
According to ABI Research, the mobile security marketplace will be doubling by next year, to reach over $1 billion. The VMware acquisition of AirWatch is the third major deal of this nature that has recently occurred and many are predicting that this number will grow.
Denny |
November 21, 2013
ABI Research has released a projection that sensor fusion will present a tremendous opportunity.
According to the latest forecasts from ABI Research, there will be over one billion smartphones that are equipped with a geolocation based marketing friendly sensor fusion technology by the year 2016.
Sensor fusion uses multiple sensors to combine data to become more useful and comprehensive than the individual data.
Patrick Connolly, a senior analyst from ABI Research, explained that “Sensor fusion is vital in enabling a consistent location experience, RF mapping and the industry to scale rapidly. Unfortunately, it is not just a case of putting in a 9-axis sensor to achieve this. Highly complex algorithms are required to optimize sensor outputs, integrate with other location technologies and combine with machine learning and data-fusion algorithms.” This will be defining for geolocation based marketing.
Geolocation based marketing will become increasingly effective and will provide an enhanced consumer experience.
Connolly went on to state that this technology will go far beyond BLE and Wi-Fi as the most important indoor geolocation based marketing technology based from handsets by the year 2017. At the moment, there is a definite trend in the direction of hybridization, as senor fusion, BLE, and Wi-Fi are showing themselves to be critical. By next year, hybrid location based marketing technology solutions will already have leapt ahead of individual indoor smartphone location tech.
He also pointed out that differentiation will be offered through LTE-direct, object recognition, and optical light technologies over the long term. Through this tech, retailers can use geolocation based marketing services to provide consumers with coupons and other attractive offers and discounts to shoppers based on where they are located within stores and shopping malls. Moreover, they can be used by enterprises for the tracking and management of assets.
As a whole, the market for geolocation based marketing and other uses of the technology is projected by ABI Research to be worth $ billion by the year 2018. It will be driven by the penetration of mobile technology and by vendors that offer venues such as warehouse retailers, stadiums, airports, and shopping malls products for bringing services and content directly to the devices of users based on where they are located.
