Softricity To Incorporate Seaport Technology In Soft Grid

That includes source code and a patent around virtual software installation, a process enabling on-demand software delivery from a central server without requiring the software to be installed on the end user's system, said David Greschler, co-founder and executive vice president of Softricity.

Softricity's application delivery and management platform, SoftGrid, supports both Microsoft Windows desktop and Terminal Services environments. Applications are centrally housed on the SoftGrid server but are sent to the client device on demand in bits and pieces to be executed locally. The platform's SystemGuard technology keeps the applications from altering the registry of the server's operating system, eliminating software conflicts.

Softricity partners with Microsoft and Citrix Systems, recruiting Citrix Gold, Platinum and Certified Consulting Partners (CCPs) to sell its products through a channel-only sales strategy.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Softricity plans to include technology acquired from Seaport in SoftGrid 2.1, due out next spring, Greschler said. The addition of Seaport's technology, known as Briqs, will add performance and security improvements to SoftGrid, he said.

Cambridge, Mass.-based Seaport, formerly known as Into Networks, used its application delivery technology to stream on-demand gaming software to broadband Internet service subscribers before shifting its focus to the enterprise market earlier this year.

Meanwhile, solution providers working with Softricity said they are starting to gain traction with customers. RapidApp, a Citrix CCP in Chicago, is in the midst of its first SoftGrid implementation, said Robert Koury, principal at the solution provider. SoftGrid can eliminate conflicts between applications installed in a Citrix server farm, enabling applications that previously couldn't co-exist to be installed on the same server, thereby helping Citrix customers to consolidate their servers and save money on their infrastructure, Koury said.

"Ultimately, Softricity will sell more licenses for Citrix," said Bill Fistori, president and CEO of DeVA Systems Group, a Citrix Platinum partner based in Maynard, Mass. "The more applications that work on a terminal server, the more licenses Citrix sells and the more penetration they get into enterprise accounts," he said.