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.
"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.
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