Hard on the heels of revealing plans for a $100 million IPO, UK startup-cum-success story Sophos Security has announced an acquisition of Reflexion Networks. The tie-up will enable Sophos to add cloud-based email security to Sophos Cloud, the company’s integrated cloud-based management console.
Woburn, Mass.-based Reflexion has a wide-ranging portfolio of cloud-based email security technologies, encompassed by the Reflexion Total Control platform. It blocks spam and viruses, of course, and offers archiving, discovery and recovery services for fast search and retrieval capabilities, and encryption to ensure that email communications are only readable by intended recipients.
Reflexion also offers ancillary business continuity services to ensure uninterrupted business communications in the event of an outage.
The services will dovetail with Sophos Cloud, launched in mid-2013, which provides endpoint security, mobile device management and security, server security and application whitelisting via its integrated console.
“The Reflexion platform has been built from the ground up to run in the cloud at scale and will strengthen and accelerate our ability to offer email protection when and where the customer wants it,” said Bill Lucchini, senior vice president of Sophos Cloud Security Group. “As we integrate this technology with Sophos Cloud, it will complement our Sophos Secure Email Appliance, giving IT professionals the choice of a cloud-based solution, or an on-premise solution. We are excited about the opportunity this brings and welcome the Reflexion Networks team to Sophos.”
The deal will also widen Sophos’ global footprint, especially in the US. Reflexion, which has over 17,000 customers, sells via more than 2,000 managed service providers (MSPs). Sophos has 200,000+ customers globally.
“Reflexion is a great fit for Sophos because, like us, their sales model is 100% channel,” said Kendra Krause, vice president of global channels and sales for Sophos. “The solutions developed by Reflexion Networks bring opportunity for Sophos partners to offer new services in the attractive growth market of cloud-based email security, and Reflexion partners have the opportunity to expand their security offerings with the broad Sophos security portfolio.”
Sophos’ existing focus on the mid-market of enterprises with between 100 and 5,000 employees will also now be broadened to include more small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
“At Reflexion Networks we’ve always been passionate about serving the vast global market of small and midsize businesses with easy to use services delivered through MSPs,” commented David Hughes, CEO of Reflexion Networks. “Sophos shares our vision, and has the global reach and partner commitment to make it a reality. We couldn’t be more excited about joining the Sophos team.”
The news comes as Sophos prepares to go public on the London Stock Exchange, in a move which the firm claims will help it raise as much as $100 million. Following its admission, slated for early July, it’s expected that the Oxfordshire-based vendor will become eligible for the FTSE 250.
Sophos is no stranger to growth by acquisition: In February 2014 it acquired Cyberoam to boost its layered defense portfolio with additional SIEM capabilities and a unique, granular, user-based network security control approach.