Apple looking to deploy 1Password company-wide, company buy-out denied [u]

Apple is reportedly planning to deploy AgileBits' 1Password software across its entire workforce, claimed a report on Tuesday, but the same report alleging that the developer was going to be acquired by Apple was outright refuted.

The deployment, covering some 123,000 people, has involved "months of planning," BGR said citing an anonymous source. This includes not just corporate-level staff but retail workers, and even family members, since Apple is allegedly offering each worker a family plan with support for up to 5 other people.

Only 100 employees are expected to start using 1Password this week, but usage should reach full levels within the next month or two.

Apple is said to have made stringent demands in exchange for the contract, including a maximum four-hour response time for customer support, and translations of every support page into every major international language. To meet Apple's phone needs, AgileBits is claimed to have turned to a third-party call management service. The deal is also specifically for the standalone version of 1Password that syncs through iCloud, rather than one that uses other cloud providers like Amazon, which Apple is said to have rejected.

At AgileBits, every employee is said to have been paid a bonus, up to six figures in the case of top-level executives.

The BGR source indicated that AgileBits' annual revenue is normally around $5 million to $10 million, but that Apple would likely pay two to three times that amount if it goes forward with an acquisition. AgileBits CEO Jeff Shiner was supposedly overheard talking about an "Apple acquisition" at conference room in the company's Toronto offices.

At first glance, the acquisition makes very little sense. Apple's Keychain has much of the functionality of 1Password, minus the cross-platform nature of the latter.

Not clear is what would happen to the cross-plafform nature of the company after any acquisition. Additionally, how 1Password for Enterprise would be impacted is not at all clear at this time.

None of it may come to pass, however. A source inside Apple corporate not authorized to speak for the company was skeptical of the entire report.

"We haven't heard anything about this," the source told us. "Why? The Keychain does 95 percent of this already."

AppleInsider is continuing to pursue details surrounding the report.

Update: While neither confirming nor denying a contract to supply 1Password with Apple, AgileBits insists that no acquisition is in the cards.