Google, on Thursday, announced that it has reached an Agreement with LogMeIn Inc. to acquire its IoT division Xively. The acquisition, reportedly for $50 million, will give Google Cloud an established IoT platform to add to their product portfolio.
Google, as well as Samsung, believes that more than 20 billion connected things will come online by 2020 and stresses that analytics and data storage will play the key role in successful IoT solution. Acquisition of Xively will provide Google Cloud with a fully managed IoT service that easily and securely connects, manages, and ingests data from globally dispersed devices. Xively’s robust, enterprise-ready IoT platform will enable Google to accelerate from IoT vision to product pretty quick.
Furthermore, Google believes that its Cloud IoT Core will gain deep IoT technology and engineering expertise through this acquisition. This includes Xively’s advanced device management, messaging, and dashboard capabilities. This extensive feature set and flexible device management platform of Xively, paired with the security and scale of Google Cloud will provide Google customers with an unprecedented IoT solution.
As for LogMeIn, they acknowledged through a blog post that they are leaving the IoT connectivity platform space. They believe that the acquisition of Xively makes Google Cloud better fit for the future of IoT platform. Google will also gain 45 Xively employees from LogMeIn along with the acquisition of its IoT platform.
“So the obvious question is, does this mean LogMeIn is exiting the IoT? Well, if you mean the IoT connectivity platform space, yes, we’re leaving it. We believe that Google Cloud, now armed with Xively’s team and great technology – and backed by their platform and developer heritage and reach – are a far better fit for the future of platform leadership,” LogMeIn wrote.
LogMeIn acquired Xively in 2014 for $12 million. The division reportedly generated revenue of $3 million and $13 million of expenses in LogMeIn’s 2017 fiscal year. A loss of $10 million could have triggered LogMeIn to sell the unit. Google knows the importance of IoT, and a platform as ready-to-use as Xively only strengthens its Google Cloud Platform.
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