Yahoo gears up for online collaborative suite battle, will buy Zimbra for $350 million
Yahoo officially announced today that is buying innovative AJAX mail client provider Zimbra for a hefty $350 million. With the acquisition of Zimbra, Yahoo’s CEO Jerry Yang is hoping to solidify Yahoo’s web mail services which has been the company’s premier web product.
“Zimbra’s tremendous talent and innovative technology will help to extend our core Mail offerings, further strengthening our strong leadership position in this space. Additionally, Zimbra’s successful relationships with large ISPs are key as we expand our worldwide partner network and continue to focus on our commitment to being the partner of choice,” said Yang.
Zimbra’s rich, AJAX-based e-mail will help Yahoo to expand its presence in universities, businesses and through ISPs, by allowing organizations to have their own email system hosted in their own domains. Aside from email, Zimbra also offers a calendar and contact management features that can be accessed online or offline. Zimbra’s open platform allows users to create widgetized mash-ups called Zimlets, which can be customized to suit the needs of different customers.
For Zimbra, the tie up with Yahoo is tantamount to opening up its products, particularly its Zimlets, to Yahoo’s rich ad and content networks.
“With Yahoo!’s ad and content network, the possibilities for Zimlets and other applications are endless,” said Satish Dharmaraj, Zimbra co-founder and CEO.
Yahoo’s acquisition of Zimbra formalizes the company’s foray into the online desktop collaboration suite market which is currently monopolized by Google various collaboration products, such as Docs & Spreadsheets and the soon to be launched Presently.
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