LANDesk Sees Security Threat from Mobile Platforms

LANDesk Software, the venerable desktop management systems developer, is tapping into the burgeoning market of mobile platforms with new security systems.

Besides acknowledging a growth market, LANDesk is also joining other software specialists, including IBM, Microsoft and Symantec, in ensuring that laptops and smartphones used by a mobile workforce don't compromise the integrity of the enterprise.

Our goal is to help the IT departments get control of end-user environments, LANDesk CEO Steve Daly told IBTimes. It's a huge problem and the mobility explosion is catching people off-guard.

LANDesk's latest product, Mobility Manager Suite 9, is one way to deal with the problem, Daly told IBTimes. An employee of an enterprise already running Management Suite 9 and Security Suite 9 can access corporate e-mail from an iPhone, but only once a log-in is validated and confirmed as being secure.

Similarly, by making a laptop or smartphone LANDesk-compatible, the IT manager of the company can access the device to check its security or, if lost, sweep out all corporate data.

The Salt Lake City-based company charges between $30 and $40 per device for a perpetual license, Daly said. Besides on-premises installations and updates, enterprise customers can obtain updates from the cloud.

Acquired last year by Thoma Bravo, the Chicago-based private equity company, 19 years after it was acquired by Intel, followed by Avocent and ultimately Emerson Electric, Daly, 47, declined to provide specific financial data. But he told IBTimes LANDesk is profitable on revenue exceeding $150 million.

In time, Thoma Bravo will likely pursue a liquidity event, Daly said, which could include an IPO or still another sale.

Meanwhile, LANDesk derives more than 50 percent of its revenue from outside the U.S., like most technology multinationals. Besides 350 channel partners that sell its software management line, the company also has two powerful allies: Hewlett-Packard, the No. 1 U.S. computer services company and Lenovo Group of China, which became the No. 2 PC maker last quarter, according to IDC estimates.

Products from both hardware giants come with some LANDesk software already installed if a customer wants it. Meanwhile, nearly half of LANDesk's 600 employees work on research and engineering, working closely with software from all the major developers including Microsoft, Apple, Google, Research in Motion and others.

We have a good reach, Daly said, so LANDesk products are delivered when new updates are published. The CEO said he regarded the new focus by IBM, the No. 2 computer services provider, on similar kinds of management systems as a kind of validation of his own company's strategy.

Meanwhile, the LANDesk CEO said enterprise IT managers are noticing that with Apple's huge success with the iPhone product line, the Cupertino, Calif.-based giant has achieved new entry into the corporate market with its Mac line.

People are bringing Macs to the offices in droves, Daly said. Because of the iPhone, people are saying Macs are cool. The result is that enterprise software, long Windows-based, now has to adapt to increased use of Apple's closed OS.

Over time, LANDesk wants to deliver more tech solutions, he said.