Citrix Acquires ShareFile

Company accelerates cloud data strategy with the acquisition.

Citrix Systems, a provider of server and desktop virtualization, networking, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and cloud computing technologies, yesterday announced that it has completed the acquisition of ShareFile sharefile.com, cloud-based data storage provider. The ShareFile product line makes it easy for businesses of all sizes to securely store, sync and share business documents and files, both inside and outside the company. ShareFile's centralized cloud storage capability also allows users to share files across multiple devices and access them from any location. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The company explains that in the PC Era, data was typically stored on a single personal computer, accessed from a physical office, and shared via flash drives or email. As the industry transitions to the Cloud Era, an increasingly mobile workforce is demanding easy access to data that is untethered from offices and devices, and easy to share and collaborate securely with others. These trends are giving rise to the concept of a 'personal cloud' - the aggregation of apps, data, preferences and friends that are unique to each individual employee, and move seamlessly across any device or location. With the acquisition of ShareFile, the company is adding 'follow-me-data' capabilities to its portfolio, allowing business users to access their documents and files from anywhere, share them across multiple devices and collaborate easily with colleagues.

It further explains that the acquisition of ShareFile brings to it a powerful new technology platform and a talented team with deep experience in data services and cloud computing. ShareFile CEO, Jesse Lipson, will become Vice President and General Manager of the newly-formed Data Sharing product group at the company. This group will be responsible for the ShareFile product line, as well as enabling the company's 'follow-me-data' strategy. Taking a platform approach to data will enable the company to:

Make common data services like search, share, sync, secure, authenticate, open and preview available to a wide range of applications, services and use cases through a set of open APIs.
Extend secure data sharing services to new and existing apps stored in public and private clouds and accessed from millions of different business and consumer devices.
Connect data seamlessly to the way people collaborate today, ensuring that the right documents and files are always accessible when needed, and always up to date.

Mark Templeton, President and CEO, Citrix Systems, Inc., said, "This is a highly strategic acquisition that enables Citrix to deliver all three of the critical components for the personal cloud - collaboration, apps and data - with amazing accessibility and productivity on any device. Our follow-me-data strategy means data will be shared across people, across apps and across devices. As customers and partners build on this platform, they will be able to easily add follow-me-data services to their software, leverage the data that other apps store there, and instantly inherit all the management, mobility and scalability that's in the ShareFile infrastructure."

Jesse Lipson, CEO, ShareFile, said, "Joining the Citrix team will provide a great home to the thousands of ShareFile corporate customers, serving millions of users worldwide. The combination of Citrix and ShareFile will also help spur incredible new innovation around the role of data in the new Cloud Era workplace."