Salesforce has thrown its lot in with cloud administration startup Skyhigh Networks in a $40 million (£23 million) round of funding.
The service provided by Skyhigh analyses corporate networks, recognises what apps employees are using in the workplace (like Dropbox) and then works out the risk they might pose to the company.
Should the apps pose a serious enough threat, it will provide tools to lock the apps down to prevent further use.
Skyhigh hopes to help administrators trying to fight against shadow IT and take advantage of tools that firms already like to use.
The service it offers, according to CEO Rajiv Gupta, is designed for management of an ongoing application cycle; from the first time an app enters a network right up until the network secures it.
The ability to lock down apps also means that employees will be able to bring their commercial Software-as-a-Service apps with them. Their firms, in turn, won’t have to implement costly legacy solutions and force them on unwilling staff.
The funding it has received, headed up by Geylock Partners and Sequoia Capital, will go towards increasing staff headcount and building a European and Asian market presence.
Overall the company has raised $66.5 million (£39 million) so far – spurred on by rapid growth and team expansion – that Gupta says is the “fuel for the rocket ship.”
As for why Salesforce has invested in the company, Gupta reckons that any solution that makes the cloud and BYOD safer for enterprise catches the cloud giant's interest.
People won’t stop bringing their cloud app to the workplace, says Gupta, and giving more customers control is better for everyone, including Salesforce.
