Google’s acquisition of email and messaging security vendor Postini is being seen as a sign that the search engine giant sees growth potential among enterprise customers, particularly in on-demand software. It’s the second security acquisition it made in recent months and it could result in continued investment in the security market to round out its security portfolio and reaffirm its commitment to enterprise customers.

In May, Google announced its acquisition of GreenBorder Technologies Inc., which specializes in sandbox technology to defend email and Web users from malware. Around the same time, the search giant started the Google Security blog. Greenborder is seen a a purchase for the consumer space, but the folks at the official Google Blog explained that the latest security acquisition is all about its enterprise customers.

Google has already been selling Postini spam and antivirus protection to enterprises in its pay version of Google Apps, so analysts say we’re not likely going to see any major changes. Questions still linger over whether Postini’s current pricing model will remain. Postini customers have been paying a premium for the hosted service over the long term, according to analysts. In addition to the Postini technology, the acquisition gives Google a direct line to thousands of email administrators in small and midsize businesses who may make future buying decisions for email spam and virus protection.

Peter Firstbrook, a research director of information security and privacy at Stamford, Conn.-based research firm Gartner Inc. told me that at $625 million, Google paid a premium for Postini – a sign that the email security market may finally be fully consolidated.

“There’s only a few good beach front lots left,” he said. “Postini may represent the last independent premium property being bought up.”

Firstbrook said he believes Google is trying to bolster itself to compete against Microsoft, which offers similar spam and antivirus protection with Microsoft Exchange Server.

Does Google need another security firm to make a complete security suite for enterprises? There’s been talk of Google building a national fiber network. Could network security be its next move? The folks at Mashable are predicting that Google will make 22 acquisitions in 2007. Certainly there’s room for more security.
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