Both companies are keeping tight-lipped about the products that Microsoft will use, but Laplink’s Everywhere package, which enables remote access to desktop PCs, is a firm favorite given the growth of the mobile workforce.
All Microsoft would say is that the two firms discovered in the course of normal product roadmap discussions that we had a mutual interest in some capabilities and there was an opportunity to work together in this area.
Laplink’s announcement of the deal included a quote from Kenneth Lustig, Microsoft’s managing director of intellectual property acquisitions and investment, that the deal demonstrates our commitment to meeting the needs of an increasingly global and mobile workforce.
The big mystery is why Microsoft did not buy the 50-employee company outright. Thomas Koll, who bought Laplink out of bankruptcy two years ago, has Microsoft blood running through his veins.
In a long career with the Redmond giant, he progressed from country manager for Germany to corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Network Solutions Group and led its strategic partnerships in mobility, broadband and hosting.
Microsoft’s caution about too close a relationship with Laplink may well stem from an unwillingness to jeopardize its relationship with remote access software player Citrix Systems, which is key to Windows maintaining control of the thin client market.
Citrix’s GoToMyPC competes head-to-head with Laplink Everywhere in the remote access market and it would not take kindly to Microsoft snuffing out such a money-spinner if it bought Laplink. Nor would regulators on either side of the Atlantic take kindly to Microsoft extending its dominance into another market.
For its part, Laplink vice president for marketing Emir Aboulhosn insists that there was no question of Microsoft buying the company as it was not for sale. Nor is there any immediate prospect of an IPO for the Kirkland, Washington company.
Laplink has been around since 1983 and as far back as 1988 produced Casio PC Link, which it claimed was the first PDA sync software.
Other Laplink software includes ShareDirect, which allows users secure peer-to-peer connection across the internet while Laplink Gold allows remote technical support to field offices and remote users.
For consumers its big seller has been PCmover that it says offers a simple way of moving applications, settings, and data files from an old PC to a new PC.
