iPass Buys Mobile Automation

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. -- As another step in the company's Policy Orchestration initiative, iPass Inc. (NASDAQ: IPAS) announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Mobile Automation in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $20 million. Over the last seven years, Mobile Automation, a privately-held Westlake Village, Calif. company, has become a recognised leader in solutions that help enterprise IT departments protect and manage their remote and mobile devices such as computers and personal data assistants (PDAs). Combining the Mobile Automation technology with the iPass secure connectivity platform is expected to help iPass protect "at-risk" devices whenever they are connected to the Internet. The acquisition is subject to certain specified closing conditions.

Mobile Automation has developed a powerful suite of Web-based services that allow enterprise IT departments to better manage remote and mobile devices throughout their lifecycle, including security assessment, software deployment and update, and IT support. These services are built to be easy to deploy and use, and are optimised for mobile connectivity environments. Designed to maximise both end-user productivity and network security, Mobile Automation services let IT departments set policies and priorities for software updates to ensure that computers receive required software and operating system updates without needless impact on the user experience.

iPass Policy Orchestration is a layer of software intelligence built into the iPass connectivity platform that enables iPass services to control and enforce the use of enterprise policy-based security systems. iPass expects the integration of Mobile Automation's capabilities, recently acquired Safe3w device "fingerprinting" technology and iPass Policy Orchestration technology to help IT departments ensure that their remote and mobile PCs are properly protected over every Internet connection, and that only trusted devices are given access to corporate networks.

"Mobile computers and PDAs are the weakest links in the enterprise security chain," said Ken Denman, iPass CEO. "Corporations need to keep these devices continuously protected. Current methods only protect devices once they connect to the corporate network, which exposes them and the corporate network to a variety of dangers that leave the enterprise open to competitive, financial and legal risks. iPass services integrated with Mobile Automation technology will minimise these dangers in a way no other company can today."

iPass Inc.