Citrix snaps up micro-app startup Sapho

Citrix Systems has acquired micro-app maker Sapho in a $200 million all-cash deal.

The startup makes micro apps for legacy software and team collaboration apps such as Slack and Microsft Teams.

Sapho CEO Fouad ElNaggar said that the two companies shared the same a vision for improving employee experiences by helping them to be more productive.

"Our technologies create an intelligent environment that solves productivity challenges that employees and companies are facing by organizing work in a single place," he said. "And together, we can deliver a truly intelligent workspace that redefines the way work gets done."

Sapho began in 2014 and its micro-app platform, which launched two years later, provides contextual actions that employees can take to complete work faster and use to make better decisions.

With its platform, companies can automatically surface personalised and relevant tasks from existing systems and deliver them to any device, such as a smartphone, tablet or laptop.

It uses pre-defined APIs that integrate with leading enterprise applications such as Salesforce, Outlook and Google Drive. According to Sapho, companies can effectively guide employees through their most common work so that they can get things done and move on.

By acquiring Sapho, Citrix said it can "redefine the future of work" by offering a better customer experience than the competition.

"In today's tight labour market, the advantage goes to companies that can recruit, develop and engage employees better than the competition," said Tim Minahan, chief marketing officer at Citrix.

"Employee experience will ultimately determine winners and losers and Citrix is committed to delivering intelligent digital workspaces that give companies an edge."

The edge needed by many companies is to do with managing workloads from different sources as hybrid cloud services become more popular.

"Organizations are experiencing a need to securely aggregate and automate access to applications and data from an increasing number and variety of sources, both on-premises and in the cloud," said Chris Marsh a researcher director at 451 Research.

"Citrix understands the need and is evolving its workspaces product to balance security with an improved end-user experience with the goal of elevating employee productivity, and reducing frustration with corporate IT systems among users."