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Google bought out the Postini (News - Alert) email hosting service long ago and has since been operating Postini as an independent brand. Not much changed in regards to the solution after the Google (News - Alert) acquisition, and a small base of highly loyal customers were pleased. However, all of that is about to change.

Just last month, the search giant revealed that it would end the life of the Postini brand in 2013. In a statement, Google commented that it would integrate the key features of Postini into Google Apps with a special emphasis on security, as that was the Postini secret sauce.

This reveal has led many competitors in the email hosting space to begin posturing themselves in a position in which they can steal Postini customers away from Google once and for all. Here's a rundown of who's doing what:

• EdgeWave: Touted as a provider of Secure Content Management (SCM) solutions, the company has introduced a Switch to ePrism e-mail security suite. The suite includes anti-spam, anti-virus, continuity, data loss protection, encryption and archiving services.
• ExchangeDefender:  “We have recognized that there are many users that do not want to be forced into moving to the complete Google offering. We want to make the transition as easy as possible to ExchangeDefender by offering migration assistance, our engineers will migrate configuration and user data free of charge,” said Frank Gurnee, VP of channel services for ExchangeDefender.
• Maildistiller: The security company is alerting partners and customers about the Postini service change, and attempting to win over those partners and customers.
•  Proofpoint (News - Alert): This security-as-a-service provider has introduced a free migration path for Google Postini customers evaluating new e-mail security and compliance solutions.
• Roaring Penguin: Stuart Crawford, an MSP advocate, is alerting MSPs about Roaring Penguin’s CanIt solution which includes live technical support by phone or e-mail.

While Postini's customers were a small niche, their loyalty is appealing to these small-time email hosting providers. Google's identity as the mainstream email hosting provider may actually hurt in this case as the customers who chose not to use Google apps and opted for Postini instead are not very likely to change their minds in 2013. Those customers are going somewhere, and it is not yet clear where they will take their email hosting business.

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