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EMC grabs VMware for $635M

EMC this week continued its blitzkrieg move into the software business, signing a definitive agreement to acquire Palo Alto, Calif.-based VMware Inc. in a cash transaction valued at approximately $635 million. This maker of virtual computing software has been one of just a few new fast-moving software companies in recent years.

A Stanford spin-off, VMware chose to divide work of Web and application servers using virtual machine (VM) technology not unlike that used in the early mainframe days by IBM. VMware software places a virtual operating system layer atop Windows and Linux systems running on Intel machines.

The software allows users to dynamically allocate resources across processors, and can be used by both developers and operations staff. Server consolidation has been a sweet spot for VMware. The firm has also begun to move into storage network settings of late.

VMware has forged important deals with major industry players, including Intel and Microsoft. Just last September, VMware announced that EMC-competitor IBM had selected VMware ESX Server to be the platform for its new Virtual eServer xSeries Managed Hosted offering.

EMC said the acquisition of VMware will play a key role in EMC's strategy to help customers lower costs and simplify operations.

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About the Author

Jack Vaughan is former Editor-at-Large at Application Development Trends magazine.

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