VMware Steps Up VDI Offensive With Immidio Windows Desktop Management Acquisition

VMware Tuesday continued its Horizon desktop virtualization offensive by acquiring Immidio, maker of a Windows desktop virtualization management software product.

Immidio's Windows based Flex + workspace virtualization product allows solution providers to "dynamically provision" end-user workspaces with applications and settings based on pre-defined IT policies. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

[Related: With vSphere 6, VMware Gives Its Server Virtualization Cash Cow A Makeover ]

Bob Venero, CEO of Holbrook, N.Y.-based solution provider Future Tech, No. 234 on the 2014 CRN Solution Provider 500, praised VMware for making it easier to roll out large-scale desktop virtualization solutions with the Immidio acquisition.

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"Anything VMware can do to enhance the desktop virtualization experience is a plus for us," said Venero. "This is a big deal for the partner community . It allows us to provide a simpler, easier-to-manage and more controlled desktop virtualization environment, which all our customers are looking for in the enterprise."

Future Tech's desktop virtualization business, which includes both VMware and Citrix offerings, is up about 25 percent this year, said Venero.

When it comes to VDI rollouts, he said, partners must be sure to carefully evaluate where VDI solutions drive the biggest return on investment. "You have to be careful not to over-engineer these solutions," said Venero.

The genesis of the Immidio software product was a freeware Flex Profile Kit that was first released in 2003. Immidio released a commercial version of the profile management tool in 2009.

In a blog post, Immidio CEO Rob Huisman said the company has 500 paying customers along with millions of users that still use the freeware product. Huisman boasted that the company's Flex + product is used in some of the largest desktop virtualization environments, including a customer that is using it to manage 105,000 desktops with a part-time engineer.

The VMware acquisition opens the door for major advances in workspace environment management, said Huisman. "All of us at Immidio feel that VMware's vision for developing a brand-new solution for workspace environment management is amazing," he wrote in a blog post. "We are excited and proud that Immidio Flex + UEM [user environment management] technology will be playing an important role in the effort and within the broader VMware product stack."

VMware End User Computing Senior Vice President Sumit Dhawan said in a blog post the deal puts VMware in a much stronger position to help customers with business mobility transformation.

"Immidio adds to our product portfolio and will enable VMware to offer a comprehensive set of technologies for workspace environment management," he said, noting that the Immidio product will become a "key component" of VMware's Horizon product portfolio.

PUBLISHED FEB. 3, 2015