VMware Adds Real-Time Mobile Apps with CloudVolumes

VMware, which built its reputation on server and application virtualization a decade ago, continues to become more and more focused on people and their mobile devices.

The company on Aug. 20 announced the acquisition of Santa Clara, Calif.-based CloudVolumes, a provider of real-time application delivery software that enables enterprises to deliver native applications to virtualized environments.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. VMware said the transaction is expected to be immaterial to its financial results.

CloudVolumes’ software is designed for terminal servers, desktops and servers, eliminating lock-ins of service providers and hypervisors. CloudVolumes works with a customer’s existing environment to deliver server or desktop workloads to any generic virtual machine, providing real-time access to applications, data and profiles.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based VMware has been building out its user-focused product line out for more than a year.

In October 2013, it acquired Desktone, which gave VMware a battle-tested, desktop-as-a-service platform. In January 2014, it announced partnerships with Google and F5 Networks. In February, VMware bought AirWatch for $1.54 billion, an established provider of enterprise mobility management, in its largest acquisition ever.

As a result, new VMware products are now coming into the market. The company launched the industry’s first hybrid DaaS offering with VMware Horizon DaaS in March, and in April, it launched VMware Horizon 6, which includes fully integrated application publishing.

Horizon 6 will be melded with CloudVolumes to enable VMware customers to build real-time application delivery systems for their enterprises.

“The combination of CloudVolumes and VMware Horizon will allow customers to build a real-time application delivery system that enables all applications to be centrally managed, always available and up-to-date, and delivered to virtualized environments for desktop, server or cloud on-demand,” said VMware’s Sumit Dhawan, VMware senior vice president for Desktop Products in End-User Computing.

CloudVolumes will also enable VMware to build real-time application delivery across all three of its technology focus areas, which include user computing, software-defined data center and hybrid cloud services, Dhawan said.