Sophos acquires DIALOGS to provide mobile device protection
Sophos has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire DIALOGS, a privately-held provider of mobile management solutions, headquartered in Germany. DIALOGS, a mobile device management (MDM) provider with customers such as BMW AG, Daimler AG, Siemens AG and ThyssenKrupp, brings twenty years of experience in mobile product development.
The increased prevalence of smartphones and tablets represents a major shift in the way people and businesses work and collaborate. IT staff at enterprises of all sizes are faced with new challenges and risks in handling and securing an array of corporate and personal devices. That, coupled with the ever-expanding usage of apps and the threat of device loss or theft, reinforces the importance of mobile data protection solutions.
Sophos allays IT worries and ensures that customers have complete protection everywhere and on any device, all without impacting business productivity. The company’s solution – Sophos Mobile Control – is designed specifically for enterprises to simply and quickly secure, monitor and control mobile devices.
As a key concern for mobile device users is having secure access to corporate data, the combination of Sophos’s encryption and data protection capabilities and DIALOGS’ SaaS-based and on-premises mobile management technology provides a unique value proposition to the market – secure collaboration from everywhere.
“IT continues to see large numbers of mobile devices coming into the enterprise – both corporate and employee-liable – and is under intense pressure to bring these devices under control,” said Chris Hazelton, research director, Mobile & Wireless, 451 Research. “Email was the initial pain point, but management of mobile apps is taking centre stage. Now more than ever, IT needs to focus on app data travelling across these devices. The ability to provide a flexible SaaS MDM offering paired with mobile application management (MAM) will go a long way toward solving the mobility challenges faced by IT today.”
Together with DIALOGS, Sophos strengthens its mobile footprint, providing customers with complete security for their mobile workforces. DIALOGS offers an MDM solution, smartMan, which is already at the core of Sophos Mobile Control and will form the basis for MDM and mobile management solutions that will be integrated into the Sophos UTM-based (unified threat management) suite. Additionally, DIALOGS offers mobile communication services for fast and reliable mobile messaging and location-based services, which Sophos will continue to support.
“We’re excited to be joining a complete security leader with deep background in mobile security,” said Frank Zimmermann, co-founder and managing director, DIALOGS. “Our complementary expertise will further strengthen the Sophos mobile development team, resulting in quicker time-to-market to deliver enterprises the industry’s most comprehensive mobile security offerings.”