UPDATE – it looks like the figure on this one is around 100M.Â
Microsoft has announced that they are planning to acquire VDI solution provider Kidaro today, according to Reuters.
From the Reuters article:
“Microsoft said Kidaro’s technology will be incorporated into its desktop virtualization product, which allows companies to deliver over an Internet network a “virtual” computer desktop different from the software running on the local machine.”
The VDI market is starting to be the place everyone is buying into, with a bunch of companies operating below the radar just waiting for things to happen and hoping for an offer.
Kidaro brings some nice features to the table including vDNA – the “self-cleaning” virtual desktop, and virtual desktops for enterprise data recovery.
It’s warming up in here!
An overview of vDNA from Kidaro:
Kidaro’s desktop virtualization platform works by running an encrypted, corporate-controlled virtual machine (VM) image on top of any PC, providing a secure and standardized environment for enterprise computing. Because the VM runs locally on corporate or third party PCs, the platform enables user mobility and disconnected use, without the need for expensive server farms.
Kidaro vDNA enables a stable, self-cleaning desktop by virtualizing and isolating two different kinds of “virtual DNA”:
- Personal data: includes end user files, passwords, configurations, bookmarks, and registry settings that make a desktop “yours.”
- Corporate desktop image: includes operating system, applications, configurations, and security tools that make up the standardized enterprise desktop.
By encapsulating and managing personal data separately, Kidaro vDNA enables the underlying virtual desktop image to be continually repaired and updated. In contrast to normal PC operation, where errors, corruptions, and unwanted software continually degrade performance, Kidaro vDNA insures that desktops always run clean, while enabling ongoing updates and upgrades from corporate IT. Users retain the ability to personalize their virtual desktop environment and to run personal applications on the underlying host PC.
So from what I can tell, this is a type of “sandbox” or “jail” technology similar to the “bubbles” in the SoftGrid product – a good match for Microsoft for sure, and the end of my quotes and italicized text!