Avast Targets Enterprise Mobility Market with Remotium Purchase

With people accessing enterprise applications from a range of devices these days—including their own personal smartphones—mobile security is becoming a more critical issue than ever.

To help the enterprise secure business applications in these scenarios, security software provider Avast Software, based in Redwood City, California, has added new technology to its quiver to ensure data security and compliance when business apps are accessed remotely.

The company recently unveiled its purchase of Remotium, a San Mateo, California-based company with virtualization technology enabling enterprises to securely extend access to business-critical applications in a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) environment, according to a press release about the deal.

Remotium’s flagship product, the Virtual Mobile Platform (VPM), enables access to enterprise applications from any mobile or desktop device, allowing users to work from anywhere—the office, their home or from the road—using random or personal smartphones, tablets or laptops. Using the VPM, enterprise users can gain secure remote access to their corporate tools, apps and data without compromising the security or data compliance of the enterprise system, according to Avast.

"Remotium‘s mobile solutions address the needs of modern enterprises," said Avast CEO Vince Steckler in the release. “As more and more companies support BYOD policies, the question of how to implement these policies efficiently and securely is top of mind for everyone.”

With Remotium’s technology, companies have visibility and security needed to ensure data integrity and corporate compliance while maintaining the privacy of personal data already stored on mobile devices, he said. Business applications also maintain a consistent look and feel across both mobile and desktop platforms.

Stephanie Fohn, vice president and general manager of Remotium, said the union of the companies is symbiotic and will help both companies expand their vision for security and as well as their reach into the enterprise market.

“As we become more integrated within Avast Software, we will leverage our combined expertise in enterprise security and mobile security to deliver new solutions to mitigate threats for organizations of all sizes on all platforms,” she wrote in a blog post about the deal.