Google Buys Identity Management Startup Bitium

Google's acquisition of identity management startup Bitium, announced Tuesday, will give partners another layer of native tooling with which to secure apps running in Google's cloud.

The startup's technology will be used to bulk up Google's Cloud Identity solution delivering access management and single-sign-on for cloud and mobile environments. Google didn't disclose how much it paid for Bitium.

"With the acquisition of Bitium, Google Cloud will gain capabilities to help us deliver on our Cloud Identity vision. Our enterprise customers want a comprehensive solution for identity and access management and SSO that works across their modern cloud and mobile environments," blogged Karthik Lakshminarayanan, director of product management for G Suite and Cloud Identity.

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Bitium's founders, CEO Scott Kriz and CTO Erik Gustavson, wrote on their company's blog that "being part of Google means great things for our current customers and broader IT administrative capabilities for G Suite customers. We will continue to deliver the products and services our customers rely on with the added scale that Google provides."

Bitium was founded in 2012 in Santa Monica, Calif., several blocks from Google's office in Venice, Calif.

The company's products look to simplify securing cloud-based apps, both for administrators who need to manage accounts, and for employees accessing business applications like Google G Suite, as well as Microsoft Office 365, applications hosted on Amazon Web Services, and other Software-as-a-Service solutions.

Google said the acquisition wouldn't stop it from working with other identity management partners.

Diane Greene, who runs the Google Cloud business, delivered a keynote revealing an "expanded alliance" with Okta at the company's 2016 user conference in Las Vegas.

Okta, a Bitium rival, went public earlier this year.

"As we add Bitium’s capabilities, we’ll continue to work closely with our vibrant ecosystem of identity partners so that customers are able to choose the best solutions to meet their needs," Lakshminarayanan said.