SoftBank Corp. has tied up with a service for corporate clients that allows workers to access their company's email and presentations via the cloud before destroying the online sessions.
SoftBank, which paid $21.6 billion for control of Sprint in July, is rolling out the service from Armor5 Inc. this month, Suresh Balasubramanian, chief executive officer of the California-based company, said Jan. 10.
Armor5 helps keep employer data secure when workers access company-related information on their personal smartphones, tablets or computers.
The product is similar to that of 2-year-old Snapchat Inc., which allows users to send photos electronically that disappear after they have been viewed. Armor5's cloud-based product acts as a security layer in front of services such as Google Inc.'s email and online services offered by Salesforce.com Inc., Balasubramanian said.
"Armor5 is what we call an on-demand cloud," he said. "Our cloud exists when you want to access information, then destroys it when you are done with it."
Information is retained on company servers even after it has been removed from the cloud.
SoftBank has partnered with Armor5 and plans to begin offering the company's cloud-based service by the end of March, said Yuko Miki, a spokeswoman for the carrier.
SoftBank is expanding in North America and Europe to counter a declining population at home. Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son is exploring a deal for Sprint to buy the majority of T-Mobile US Inc., sources said in December.
SoftBank has investments in more than 1,000 Internet companies, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Yahoo Japan Corp.