Another week, another top consumer security provider making a move for the enterprise. Avast Software s.r.o., the maker of the world’s single most widely-used antivirus software, has acquired an emerging mobile service delivery startup for an undisclosed amount this morning in a renewed push into the corporate network.

The San Mateo-based Remotium Inc.’s claim to fame is a virtual appliance that organizations can install behind the firewall to create a digital workplace that employees can access remotely when away from the the office. It’s the same concept as more conventional desktop virtualization solutions from the likes of VMware Inc. and Citrix Systems Inc. except that the services running inside are native mobile apps.

That removes the need to use logical wrappers and other manner of workarounds to stream the software, which Rometium says allows for a better use experience and makes it platform more economic to operate than the competition. The main reason Avast has bought the startup lies elsewhere, however

In particular, running those apps at the backend makes it much easier for administrators to enforce security policies than if they had to individually manage each device that uses the software. It also makes it that much harder for hackers to compromise the apps in conjunction, a perfect fit with the antivirus maker’s mission.

Admittedly, there are quite a few mobility management services out there that promise to provide the same kind of unified control over employee devices, but keeping everything centralized is a lot more straightforward. It’s also potentially more effective since potential intruders not only have to bypass the local safeguards on the worker’s smartphone or tablet but also their organization’s backend defenses.

That functionality significantly expands Avast’s mobile arsenal, which has up until now consisted mainly of  consumer-grade capabilities and limited enterprise functionality for tracking infected devices on the network. The sudden emphasis on corporate customers mirrors an effort by Lookout Inc., one of the company’s biggest rivals, to move beyond the consumer space in pursuit of more lucrative revenue streams.

And what better place for a mobile antivirus provider to establish a beachhead into those organizations the personal devices that employees bring to work? Lookout managed to raise a massive $150 million from investors last year to pursue that opportunity, but Avast has the advantage of a much broader install base that extends beyond smartphones and tablets to desktops as well, an edge that it will now doubt attempt to exploit.

Photo via Dennis Skley