VMware

Cisco Systems, NetApp and VMware are joining forces to bring new design architectures to market. The goal is to develop virtualized data centers that are more efficient, dynamic and secure.

The trio on Tuesday introduced an end-to-end Secure Multi-tenancy Design Architecture that works to beef up security in cloud environments by isolating the IT resources and applications of different clients, business units, or departments that share a common IT infrastructure.

In a move to push cloud computing into the mainstream, Cisco Systems, EMC and VMware launched the Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) coalition on Tuesday. The companies will work together to deliver business-ready IT that aims to simplify and accelerate virtualization and the transition to cloud computing.

VMware has made aggressive moves toward the cloud, but the virtualization solutions provider hasn't abandoned its quest to optimize the Microsoft Windows experience for Apple Macintosh users. VMware is rolling out VMware Fusion 3 on Oct. 27 and aims to make it easier for users to run Windows applications, including graphics-intensive games, alongside Mac applications. In total, VMware Fusion 3 offers more than 50 new features and enhancements.

Microsoft's No. 1 rival is a household name, Google. But a strong candidate for No. 2 is a company scarcely known outside the technology industry: VMware.

"VMware is definitely a threat," said Gary Chen, an analyst at IDC, a research firm. "After Google, it is the company Microsoft fears most."

Google and VMware, which is based in Palo Alto, California, pose a broadly similar challenge to Microsoft, by potentially undermining the dominance of its most lucrative desktop software and operating systems. Google represents the attack from above, while VMware is the assault from beneath.

VMware said its VMware View has become the world's leading desktop virtualization client for enterprise applications, with more than one million seats estimated across 7,000 customers. By moving from a device-centric to user-centric computing model, VMware said, IT departments can embrace diverse user requirements and still maintain strong security and compliance while lowering overall costs.

VMware has all but closed the deal to acquire SpringSource in a $420 million cash and stock transaction. The idea is to offer new solutions that help companies build, run and manage applications within internal and external cloud architectures more efficiently.

VMware Inc., which makes software that allows business servers to run multiple operating systems simultaneously, said Monday it is acquiring SpringSource for $362 million in cash and stock.

The purchase of SpringSource, a privately held business and Web application developer, also includes the assumption of $58 million in unvested stock and options. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

Separately, Jefferies analyst Katherine Egbert downgraded VMware to "Underperform" from "Hold."

VMware Inc., which makes software that allows business servers to run multiple operating systems simultaneously, said Monday it is acquiring SpringSource for $362 million in cash and stock.

The purchase of SpringSource, a privately held business and Web application developer, also includes the assumption of $58 million in unvested stock and options. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter.

Separately, Jefferies analyst Katherine Egbert downgraded VMware to "Underperform" from "Hold."

More clouds are rolling into cloud computing as virtualization provider VMware announced Tuesday its vSphere 4, described as "the industry's first operating system for building the internal cloud."

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company said vSphere 4 "brings cloud computing to enterprises in an evolutionary, nondisruptive way." Computing clouds internal to an enterprise, the company added, can simplify delivery, decrease costs by up to 30 percent, increase flexibility, and allow for a more rapid response to changing needs.

Cisco on Monday set out to shake up the server world through a partnership with VMware that offers customers access to virtualized and physical computing systems over an intelligent network.

Dubbed Cisco Unified Computing System, the new technology relies on VMware's virtualization software to offer what the company calls a next-generation data-center platform that unifies computing, network, storage access, and virtualization. The result is a scalable and flexible environment for the delivery of IT as a service.