Citrix buys corporate MDM tool company Zenprise

Citrix has bought mobile device management (MDM) company Zenprise in an attempt to boost its mobile capabilities.

The price Citrix paid for Zenprise has not been disclosed, but sources suggest Citrix could have offered up to $50m for Zenprise, which was founded in 2003.

Zenprise specialises in MDM, offering MDM tools to businesses looking to roll out mobiles and tablets in a corporate environment.

Zenprise began life focusing on BlackBerry deployments, but as more operating systems came into the office, it evolved to serve iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Symbian.  

Traditionally a software firm, Zenprise then moved into cloud computing in 2011 when it began to offer its systems over a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model named Zencloud.

In the last 12 months, Citrix has been building up its own mobile management offerings. Citrix has launched CloudGateway to manage native, mobile and web applications on mobile devices; and Citrix Me@Work, offering a range of mobile applications to users.

Following the acquisition, Citrix plans to merge the technologies with Zenprise's tools and offer a more comprehensive mobile solution.

“Consumerisation and BYOD have given rise to very difficult challenges for businesses in enabling a productive, mobile workforce while still maintaining tight controls over company information," said Sumit Dhawan, vice-president and general manager of mobile solutions at Citrix.

"Zenprise was a clear choice for Citrix, with its leading MDM product, an experienced team, a history of innovation, and a footprint on more than one million devices. With a complete Citrix enterprise mobility solution, customers have all the necessary pieces to manage and secure mobile apps, content and devices.”

Waheed Qureshi, founder, chairman and CTO of Zenprise, said the attitudes of the two companies fit well together.

“This combination not only brings together incredibly complementary products, but a shared culture of innovation," Qureshi said.

"Citrix and Zenprise have each proven their ability to deliver leading offerings in a fast-paced market.

"Together, we will accelerate our ability to anticipate and exceed our customers’ expectations for world-class enterprise mobility solutions.”