GlassHouse Picks Up U.K.-based VAR For Virtualization Expertise

GlassHouse Technologies has acquired U.K.-based Systems Group Integration in a move to bolster its VMware desktop virtualization expertise.

The acquisition gives GlassHouse intellectual property and expertise it can use to build its worldwide desktop virtualization practice, said Mark Shirman, president and CEO of the Framingham, Mass.-based solution provider and IT infrastructure consulting services company.

Systems Group Integration, or SGI, has specialized in virtualization technologies for over 15 years, and has invested millions of dollars in strong intellectual property to help roll out virtual desktop solutions, Shirman said.

SGI's services and solutions for virtual desktops will be integrated into GlassHouse's existing and complementary business to help customers worldwide build their virtual infrastructures, Shirman said.

"GlassHouse has done virtual desktops before, but just a bit," he said. "The ROI to date has not been what we expected. We've done rollouts and got requests for information from customers, but we did not have the in-depth experience."

However, Shirman said, the virtual desktop market is one of great potential, and SGI will help GlassHouse in building out the business. SGI's expertise is important to GlassHouse because, while fewer companies will deploy virtual desktop infrastructures than many IT companies expect, those deployments will be big.

SGI also gives GlassHouse a bigger footprint with virtualization partner VMware, as VMware was SGI's primary partner in this market. GlassHouse also works with Citrix and Microsoft desktop virtualization technology, Shirman said.

Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

GlassHouse has been expanding its global business for several years via acquisitions of U.K.-based companies. The company acquired two solution providers about five years ago, a small software developer two years ago and a small consulting services company last year.

"We have the opportunity from time-to-time to pick up 'practices,' or small groups of guys, to increase our expertise," Shirman said. "Most of these acquisitions are 'tuck-ins.' SGI is much bigger than that."

The plan to acquire SGI originated from a conversation with another solution provider at a shared partner community event, Shirman said. "It was networking," he said. "I was just going out for beer and talking to people."

GlassHouse's acquisition of SGI to expand virtualization expertise is not an isolated event.

St. Louis-based solution provider World Wide Technology last month acquired cross-town peer Server Centric Consulting in a move to strengthen its virtualization expertise to better partner with Cisco and other strategic systems vendors.

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