
VMware to Acquire Zimbra - arthurk
http://www.vmware.com/company/news/releases/zimbra.html
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whatusername
I'm still trying to work out VMWares strategy here.

So I assume they make most of their cash selling stuff like ESX/vSphere Server
(Or whatever it is now called). And they really seem to own the space (true MS
shops will user Hyper-V and true OS shops Xen, but VMWare seems to be
everywhere).

But what's with the aquisitions? * Springsource - Java application stack *
Zimbra - Email platform

I understand they want to diversify the product line (esp if MS follow through
and focus on Hyper-V), but I still don't really see where they are trying to
go. A kind of Semi-Private Cloud/P-a-a-s, with email hosting? Anyone seeing
what I'm missing?

~~~
Nemo999
>true MS shops will user Hyper-V and true OS shops Xen

That is not entirely true. I'm installing a lot of VMWare systems at "true" MS
shops, which choose VM for the same reason as MS (market leader, no one ever
got fired... etc.) where hyper-V is still perceived as immature product. In MS
shops license cost usually is not the decisive factor, and VMware is perceived
as the best technology(aksi the most expensive). It is true a lot of those
places run Hyper-V as well, but they don't usually host production systems on
it.

My take on it is: MS is quite good at making development tools, Exchange,
Sharepoint, systems management software etc. (generaly high level stuff) The
further they are kept from the hardware the better. Most people employed by MS
shops know that intuitively and they welcome the opportunity to buffer MS
software from the hardware even if it costs $10k per CPU license.

~~~
whatusername
Sure - I should have prefaced that with some.

I've seen a couple of Hyper-V installations, but I'm pretty sure I haven't
seen one running linux clients (despite the code MS put into the kernel). I'm
sure they exist - but for now Hyper-V is just a pure-MS play (and still behind
VMWare at that).

Don't forget - MS really take a few iterations before their products begin to
shine. The X360 (barring H/W issues) is a really nice piece of kit, Office
took a few versions but by 5/6 was really pretty good. Windows 3.1 was when
Windows started to work (although really you could declare that at a major
release later 95). And XP SP2 And Vista SP2 (aka Win7) were when the OS really
started to shine. Bottom line - Don't count MS out when they really put their
mind to something.

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thorax
It's hard to see VMWare's strategy on this, but here's my guess:

Maybe they've actually got some finance guys looking at their P/E which is in
the 70 range. So they're probably using their premium stock price as a good
way to pick up some bargains while their core business revenue is slowing down
with the rest of the economy (and with tough competition).

In my mind, it makes me think that they worry about (or are at least are
hedging against) their core market being eroded by other players. If they did
believe it was VM/VDI for the long haul, then they'd be investing in
technologies with far better synergies than the ones they're picking. I mean
"cloud" technologies pretty much applies to anything these days, so it'd be a
stretch to say these are really "good fit" acquisitions.

I have a feeling this could work out okay for VMWare, though it feels more
like a business play than a technology one.

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aditya
Hm... yahoo shedding some fat or is it a firesale?

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mediaman
Good news, in my opinion -- back when MSFT was courting Yahoo many were
concerned Zimbra would get shut down in the aftermath.

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lanstein
see also <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1048787>

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eli
Perhaps it was to acquire the engineers?

