Symantec Acquires Desktop Virtualization Firm

Data security and storage provider Symantec disclosed on April 9 that it is acquiring an OEM partner, software-as-a-service provider AppStream. Terms of the deal were not disclosed by either company.

AppStream brings a whole new market—desktop virtualization—to the Symantec catalog. The company's streaming technology allows any Windows-based software application to be streamed on demand to an end user's desktop in LAN, WAN or home-worker environments, and includes user-based application provisioning and license management tools.

AppStream's service can be deployed stand-alone or in tandem with existing enterprise software deployment systems, such as VMware and Citrix XenSource.

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"This is a small, targeted acquisition and is a very natural move for Symantec because of the close partnership [AppStream has been a Symantec OEM partner since 2006] and the company's existing product relationship on Symantec's Software Virtualization Solution [SVS] Pro," Symantec spokeswoman Sherri Walkenhorst told eWEEK via e-mail.

Using AppStream's Web portal, users can surf to and access the desired applications in a kiosk-like, on-demand fashion.

"We're seeing quite a trend here, with big companies like VMware [bought by EMC], XenSource [bought by Citrix], Innotech [bought by Sun Microsystems] and Microsoft [Kidaro] investing heavily in this next big thing, desktop virtualization," Mark Bowker, virtualization analyst for Enterprise Strategy Group, told eWEEK.

"There's a great opportunity here, but it's not like we haven't been here before. We had that whole 'dumb terminal' trend awhile back, but the technology now is so much better than it was, that there is a whole new huge market now for running hundreds—if not thousands—of machines in virtualization, saving tons of money and energy at the same time," Bowker said.

This is Symantec's entry into the desktop virtualization market, Bowker said.

"I'm not totally sure they [Symantec] have their full strategy down yet as to what they're going to do with it, but it's an interesting move, for sure," Bowker said.

The transaction is expected to close by June, Walkenhorst said.