Google inked a deal to acquire API management platform company Apigee for approximately $625 million, as it looks to bolster its enterprise offering.
Apigee, which went public last April, helps businesses build mobile solutions by exposing Application Programming Interfaces (API)s to developers, enabling them to integrate integrate business systems with apps and services.
This allows retailers, for example, to connect to digital services and log purchases made by users on mobile apps, as well as connect to suppliers and shippers.
It counts “hundreds of companies” as customers, said Google, including AT&T and Vodafone Group, as well a large retail portfolio.
In a blog post announcing the deal, Google’s SVP and enterprise cloud head Diane Greene said the “benefits of interacting digitally drives a large market opportunity”, citing a Forrester prediction which said US companies alone will spend nearly $3 billion on API management by 2020.
Greene, who joined Google in November, has pushed to raise Google’s profile in cloud, reported Reuters, as the technology giant battles with players like Amazon and Microsoft in the fast growing enterprise cloud computing segment.
Greene said that the addition of Apigee’s API solutions to Google cloud “will accelerate our customers’ move to supporting their businesses with high quality digital interactions”.
“The transition toward cloud, mobile and digital interaction with customers and partners via APIs is happening, and fast,” she said.
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