Motorola Makes ‘Good’ Buy

Motorola  today agreed to acquire privately-held Good Technology for an undisclosed sum to bolster its suite of mobile applications for enterprise users.

Motorola and Good are hardly strangers to one another.

Good Technology, which provides mobile computing software and service for the enterprise market, already provides the software enabling the mobile e-mail features of Motorola’s Q handheld device, which was unveiled earlier this year.

Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson told internetnews.com that the acquisition is “a complementary and strategic addition that will extend our mobile computing capabilities and increase our enterprise client base.”

In addition to wireless e-mail, Good provides data access and security offerings that are critical to enterprises deploying handheld devices to their workforce.

The acquisition, expected to close in 2007, also puts Motorola in a better position to compete with Palm , Nokia  and Research in Motion in the mobile enterprise space, where acquisitions have picked up in recent months.

Motorola picked up wireless RFID  specialist Symbol earlier this fall, while Sybase nabbed mobile apps maker Mobile 365. Nokia acquired Intellisync last November for $430 million.

Steve Drake, who follows the mobile handset market for research firm IDC, noted that Good offers “a fairly robust mobile security product.

“That will be a core functionality as part of that [enterprise] suite,” Drake told internetnews.com.

Good Technology, one of the top five companies in its market in terms of market share, achieved its position by selling to all device makers.

Motorola pledged that it will carry that approach forward after the acquisition closes.

Nokia has said it would do the same with Intellisync, but selling software to its competitors can be a tough pill to swallow.

“That’s always a challenge for a company largely seen as a mobile device manufacturer,” noted Drake.

Drake said that the next step for Motorola will be to offer seamless integration with IP-PBX and the burgeoning demand for VoIP  services.