Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has just made its biggest acquisition yet, buying out cybersecurity firm Wiz for $32 billion. This deal is a significant move for Google in its quest to rival Microsoft and Amazon in the cloud services sector. Wiz Security, a not even two years old Israeli startup, focuses on cloud security and provides security services for platforms like AWS and Azure. Alphabet had offered $23 billion for Wiz before, but the company said no, it wanted to grow on its own. It is clear now that Google is not going to stop at buying the firm to enhance its cloud security. Nonetheless, the takeover will not lead to the change of the brand name of Wiz and the company will keep on functioning as a separate entity like LinkedIn which is another Microsoft’s acquisition. The company will continue to work with all the major cloud providers and there will be no restriction on the compatibility. According to Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, the cloud security will be improved by the acquisition and more protection will be provided to businesses and governments. A problem that may become a issue is the regulatory approval. The DoJ has recently stepped up its antitrust actions against Google and has been trying to force it to decouple its search engine. To meet the risks, Alphabet has accepted to pay $3.2 billion if the deal is not finalized. This acquisition is viewed by market analysts as a smart move for Google to move away from its traditional business of advertising and enhance its position in the $1 trillion cloud security market. Wedbush’s Dan Ives said Wiz is a cybersecurity leader that can help Google Cloud grow. Wiz has made $750 million in annual revenue, and the analysts expect Google to be able to take it to over $1 billion. This acquisition is consistent with Alphabet’s long term plan to diversify and grow its market share of the global cloud market.
Google Acquires Cybersecurity Firm Wiz in Landmark
