Event

On 2 November 2005, MessageLabs announced it has agreed to acquire hosted-IM system vendor Omnipod. Terms were not disclosed. MessageLabs will continue to operate the Omnipod network and plans to offer hosted-IM hygiene services.

Analysis

This acquisition deal underscores key trends in the growing market for messaging services:

• Small IM system vendors face an uphill battle competing in the enterprise IM arena. We expect many small IM system and hygiene vendors will be acquired during the next 18 months. (Messaging hygiene services provide virus and spam protection, regulatory compliance, fault tolerance and content filtering.)
• As companies accelerate IM deployment and seek to control the channel, demand is growing for IM hygiene services. Moreover, demand is also increasing for hosted messaging hygiene services.
• Companies need policy and hygiene services across many communication channels, including e-mail, IM, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Short Message Service (SMS).

Although Omnipod is mainly used in companies desiring secure hosted services, it also provides unofficial gateway services to the "big three" public IM networks (America Online, Yahoo and MSN). We expect MessageLabs will formalize these relationships to offer a supported link with the networks (as do IM proxy server vendors such as Akonix Systems, FaceTime Communications and IMlogic).

Omnipod offered only rudimentary hygiene services between its private network and the public networks, and we expect MessageLabs to focus most Omnipod development on this hygiene layer, offering — as Postini does with partner IMlogic — hosted IM hygiene services. MessageLabs will continue to offer the hosted Omnipod IM system service, and is likely to sell it in its home area (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) where Omnipod lacked a presence. Although the Omnipod service requires a proprietary client, we expect MessageLabs will offer hygiene services for a range of clients, including public networks as well as commercial offerings such as IBM Lotus Sametime and Microsoft Office Live Communication Server.

This acquisition advances MessageLabs' long-term strategy to grow via acquisition and in-house development, adding new hygiene services such as disaster recovery, archiving, encryption and regulatory compliance, initially for IM and e-mail, and then for VoIP and SMS. We expect MessageLabs' competitors will follow a similar path.

Recommendations

• Companies with many communications modes: Seek opportunities to create hygiene efficiencies across all channels via common policy execution and single-vendor solutions. Consider hosted hygiene services as a viable alternative to on-premises execution.
• Omnipod Customers: Consider this deal to be good news since it enhances Omnipod's viability. It reveals strategic thinking at MessageLabs, but it will likely take at least six months for this vendor to offer a converged messaging hygiene solution.

Analytical Source: Matt Cain, Gartner Research

Recommended Reading and Related Research

• "Create an Instant Messaging Hygiene System" — IM hygiene solutions are focused specifically on dealing with emerging IM and peer-to-peer threats. By Matt Cain and David Mario Smith
• "Beware the Inherent Risk of Public IM" — Companies must aggressively police IM boundaries and use them to diminish the risk posed by a growing list of vulnerabilities. By Matt Cain and others

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