Google today launched three new online email security and archiving packages in a move designed to broaden out its Google Apps platform and offer firms of all sizes a cheap, flexible alternative to managing in-house messaging security and compliance technology.

The three offerings are compatible with any mail system and can be bought as standalone services or as part of the Google Apps Premier Edition, said the firm's Dave Armstrong. They are built on technology which came with the acquisition of on-demand security vendor Postini last summer.

The most basic package, Google Message Filtering, features basic inbound anti-spam and anti-malware capabilities, while Google Message Security adds outbound content monitoring and encryption. Google Message Discovery includes the above capabilities plus data archiving, retention and discovery features.

The packages are priced at £1.50, £6 and £12.50 per user per year respectively.

Google's Dave Armstrong argued that the packaged services would allow firms to "adopt hosted solutions at their own pace", perhaps initially running Google Message Filtering alongside existing in-house security technologies.

"We're broadening our reach to the mid and SMB market but we're also simplifying things for enterprises," he added. "We're able to bring technologies to market in a way that it's very easy for enterprises to adopt."

Andrew Kellett of analyst Butler Group argued that the announcement "looks more like a positioning document than anything new", but added that the Postini brand could help Google's efforts to gain further traction among large enterprises.

"We're starting to see more flexibility in the way organisations are looking at how to deliver security services and less resistance to the managed services model," he argued.

But Donal Casey of consultancy Morse argued that Google could struggle in what is already a very competitive market. "Whilst the pricing of Google’s model may cause a stir in the market, mail security, filtering and archival/retrieval are big pain points for large companies and they are unlikely to drop their current trusted provider until Google has proven its strength in this area," he added.