Citrix set to snatch XenSource?
There are various rumors going around that Citrix is the the market to purchase a virtualization company, such as XenSource or VirtualIron. Realistically, Citrix has to make this jump do to its changing business model, from server-based computing to application delivery. In addition, due out with Windows Server 2008, is Microsoft’s RemoteApp and improved Terminal Services offering which, teamed with the new Windows Virtualization, will heavily compete with Citrix’s current offering, and if additional functionality is not added to their suite of products, could drastically affect sales. And this is just Microsoft were talking about here, we’re not even mentioning what VMware has on the horizon with VDI.
It will be interesting to see which company Citrix does purchase, if any. I had an interesting conversation a couple weeks ago with a VMware employee, he stated that Virtual Iron was looking around for money. I immediately assumed that they were looking at the possibility of going public themselves, seeing how much support is building up for the VMware IPO. Now I’m wondering if they are testing the water for buyers?
Citrix is set to buy virtualization software maker XenSource, according to industry chatter.
Analysts at Credit Suisse last week issued a research note saying that Citrix is – or at least should be – in the market for hypervisor software key to virtualizing both PCs and servers. Either XenSource or Virtual Iron – developers of the open source Xen hypervisor – would stand as attractive buys for Citrix, according to the analysts. They reckon such software could help Citrix as it looks to expand a software empire based on the flexible use of server-side code.
“While these companies’ [XenSource and Virtual Iron] virtual infrastructure management tools are more immature versus more-established vendors, if Citrix can develop robust management software through increased R&D while leveraging the open source Xen hypervisor, Citrix could establish itself as a strong competitor in both desktop and server virtualization within two to three years,” the analysts wrote. “Acquiring XenSource could also strengthen Citrix’s relationship with Microsoft.”
The rumors we’re hearing, however, have Citrix focused on XenSource and XenSource only and in acquisition talks. Sources have said a deal could be announced as early as this week.
XenSource cited a strong relationship with Citrix in a press release issued today, discussing the release of XenEnterprise 4.0.
“The new scalability and feature enhancements in XenEnterprise v4, together with Citrix Desktop Server enable a powerful solution for our joint customers,” said Mick Hollison, vice president of Desktop Delivery at Citrix Systems, in the statement. “In particular the new fast-cloning and thin-provisioning capabilities in XenEnterprise v4 will help Desktop Server respond to the performance and scalability demands of delivering desktops from the datacenter as a secure, on-demand service.”
Citrix set to snatch XenSource | The Register
