Virtualization

Brian Madden has done a podcast about Microsoft acquiring Softricity. Plus he has a whole Softgrid section!

http://www.brianmadden.com/subject.asp?ID=18

Wow! I guess the name of this forum could be changing...

Microsoft to acquire Softricity

Boston Business Journal - 4:51 PM EDT Monday

Microsoft Corp. confirmed it is acquiring Softricity Inc., counting on Softricity's application virtualization and streaming capabilities to ease the transition to its new Windows Vista operating system.

The companies did not disclose financial terms.

Boston-based Softricity's technology gives computers access to software without technicians actually having to install an application.

Since its launch in 1999, Softricity has disclosed $63 million in funding from Prism Venture Partners of Westwood, Mass., FA Technology Ventures of Boston and several other investors.

In March, Softricity hired Veritas Software veteran Art Matin as chief executive, replacing founding CEO Harry Ruda, who remains a board member.

I was waiting for this to happen. I didn't know who would do it but Softricity needed a larger entity to buy them up in order to maintain their lead on their competitors. Microsoft's decision to put the technology in Vista is a huge boost as to the validity of this technology. With Vista migrations comming up it looks like the face of application deployment might change faster than expected.

Yes, in my mind, this is an app killer. If they can merge SMS and Softricity well, nothing will beat it (and we'll never have to repackage again!).

I am wondering if MS will take it one step further & integrate SoftRicity-like functionality into Windows OS and AD Group Policies (registry portion).

Email I just got from the Softricity vendor that visited us last week:

Greetings on this exciting new day!

As you may have heard, on Monday, May 22, Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Softricity.

Not only is this a validation of the strength and importance of our solutions, it represents an exciting next phase of Softricity's business. To see the press release Microsoft issued about this, go to:
http://postsnet.com/r.html?c=703300&r=702610&t=645727757&l=1&d=87077964&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2emicrosoft%2ecom%2fpresspass%2ffeatures%2f2006%2fmay06%2f05%2d22Virtualization%2emspx&g=0&f=-1

I'd like to thank you for your interest and belief in our technology. Like you, Microsoft believes in the transformational benefits of our virtualization and streaming technologies. Once the deal is closed, it will enable us to tap into tremendous resources as we continue to create, extend and deliver ground-breaking solutions.

In the meantime, it is business as usual at Softricity as the acquisition by Microsoft is finalized during the course of the next few months. You can continue to expect the same top-quality service provided by Softricity.

Longer term, you can look forward to Microsoft's continued investment in SoftGrid's functionality, and also making it available more broadly.

For analyst perspectives on the impact of Microsoft’s announcement, you can visit these websites:

Credit Suisse: http://www.dabcc.com/dabcc/CS_ImplicationofSoftricityMicrosoft_05_22_06.pdf

InformationWeek: http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=188100429

Doug Brown: http://www.dabcc.com/dabcc/webapplication/aspx/dabcc.content.aspx?intPKText=1937&intPKChannel=13

Brian Madden: http://brianmadden.com/content/content.asp?id=593

eWEEK: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1965939,00.asp

Byteandswitch.com: http://www.byteandswitch.com/document.asp?doc_id=95466&WT.svl=news2_1

We will keep you informed of developments as they happen. Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.

ORIGINAL: revizor

I am wondering if MS will take it one step further & integrate SoftRicity-like functionality into Windows OS and AD Group Policies (registry portion).


This late in the game, I really doubt they'll be tinkering with Vista. It's already extremely late to market. I think it's even too late for the next version of SMS which is already in beta. But, the next version of SMS will see one merged product, and it will be an unstoppable force if they can get it to market before Altiris can get their act together.

Companies that haven't taken virtualization seriously yet (HP!) will be left in the dust.

Microsoft has said they will bake some Softricity into Vista but it is vague as to what that will look like at this point.

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/may06/05-22Virtualization.mspx

I think the big thing for Microsoft is that they want it to be the biggest thing since Windows 95. If they want to corporate community to come on board they have to make this miration as painless as possible. Not to mention they have to make the OS have a significantly lower TCO. Softgrid can be a big enabling technology for migrating applications and reducing TCO but time will only tell how this technology will be merged with their product line.

I'm assuming they'll use Vista's incompatibility with legacy programs and file systems to drive customers to SMS-Softricity.

In some way it will. I had a lunch meeting where we touched on the new security model in Vista that will cause issues for a chunk of fat installed applications. I have worked in heavy locked down environments and when you do you get to see how many applications do stupid things that they should not need to do. Vista compatability will be a big issue for those looking to migrate. I heard that the Application Compatability Toolkit will help you pre-assess this compatability by simulating the security but the lunch meeting was the first I heard of these features being in the kit.

Thanks.. I'm going to load this on my iPod tonight.

You've got to love the US.. everybody is suing everybody. You can take out a patnent that says "A flying car would be cool", then you wait 50 years until a company actually puts the effort into it and cash in.

I don't know the details of the Stream Theory vs Softricity suit, but I wouldn't be surprised if its as frivilous as the NTP vs. Blackberry suit.

On a side note I love reading Arstechnica for commentary on the broken US patent system and other intelectual property commentaries.

On another note I guess Altiris decided to publish a rather conterversial article on Softgrid. It does illustrate a worse case scenario but to put this as a typical Softgrid experience would be very misleading. I was at a site where we packaged over 800 applications and we did not have to escalate a single application to Softricity. The unfortunate part is that this article is being reprinted in blogs around the net but the comments section usually has people questioning the validity of the article.


http://juice.altiris.com/node/414