VMware sells off Shavlik patch management to LANDesk

Instead of being on the acquisition side of a buying spree, VMware seems to have flipped the tables and is now selling off technologies.

Earlier this month, the virtualization giant announced it had sold off its Protect line of patch and asset management software acquired through the purchase of Shavlik Technologies back in May 2011. VMware unloaded this product line to LANDesk, a provider of IT management, security, mobility and services, owned by private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo, LLC.

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VMware and Shavlik have a long history, going back to 2006 when the two companies first partnered. Back then, VMware was looking for a way to help provide its upcoming Virtual Infrastructure 3.1 release with a better way to manage patches of its ESX host servers and its guest operating systems. The two worked closely to create a new VirtualCenter module called Update Manager, a module to provide virtual administrators the ability to decide which patches to install on their Microsoft Windows guest OSes and to identify which patches were needed for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

In 2009, the companies came together again to create the free Web-based Go service, which VMware previewed in August 2009 and delivered the following January. VMware Go let users virtualize their servers with a few simple mouse clicks and provided an easy on-ramp to companies new to virtualization. The free service worked to bring VMware ESXi hypervisors under management and provided basic performance and resource management for the VMs.

At the time of the original acquisition announcement, VMware said the two companies would build upon those joint successes and continue to provide management services for small to medium-sized businesses, including centralized IT management services, simplified deployment and automation, and automated IT management.

Fast-forward to April 2013 and VMware is now bidding farewell to Shavlik. But VMware isn’t apologizing to those who question why the company spent money to acquire Shavlik only to turn around and sell it off. There is a reason for this departure. According to Ramin Sayar, vice president and general manager of cloud infrastructure and management at VMware, the sale maps to VMware’s strategy to execute against its three main priorities: the software-defined data center, the hybrid cloud, and end-user computing.

“As part of our efforts to focus on these areas, we came to the conclusion that asset and patch management as a stand-alone offering would be best provided by a partner such as LANDesk,” stated Sayar. “It was important to VMware to find a buyer that would be a good home for Protect customers, and we believe LANDesk is a great fit. In transitioning the Shavlik Protect product family to LANDesk, we are confident that customers will be in good hands with seamless product support and further technology innovation.”

The Shavlik product line includes solutions for centralized patch management and asset inventory for Windows and third-party applications for both virtual and physical machines; centralized antivirus, power management, and ITScripts; and the ability to leverage a single Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) workflow for deploying updates for both Microsoft and non-Microsoft applications and patches in a Windows environment.

Beginning immediately, LANDesk is saying good-bye to the VMware naming convention for the Protect line of products and is instead going back to the product’s original roots by rebranding the technology with the Shavlik name: the Shavlik Protect portfolio. In doing so, VMware vCenter Protect Standard becomes Shavlik Protect Standard; VMware vCenter Protect Advanced becomes Shavlik Protect Advanced; VMware vCenter Protect Update Catalog becomes Shavlik SCUPDates; and VMware vCenter Protect Engine becomes Shavlik Patch SDK.

“It will become immediately apparent to Shavlik Protect customers that LANDesk is committed to their current investment in Shavlik Protect products, committed to how they do business, and committed to continued product evolution and innovation,” said LANDesk CEO Stephen Daly.

Daly also stated the company would position the portfolio to grow its user-oriented IT management market presence, leveraging not only the new product line, but also making use of fresh sales channels, including online downloads.

LANDesk believes the Shavlik family of products maps well to its existing folder of Total User Management solutions. However, what the company really needed (and received) was a better way to hook its existing product lines into a VMware virtualization environment. With the code and expertise it gained through this acquisition, it stands to reason that other LANDesk products will ultimately benefit from this newfound virtualization enablement as well.

Much like the original acquisition of Shavlik by VMware, financial terms of the sale of VMware’s assets to LANDesk were not disclosed. At the same time, LANDesk and VMware also signed a technology and services agreement that will add VMware to LANDesk’s growing list of Alliance Partners, which currently includes such industry leaders as HP, Intel, and Lenovo.

This article, “VMware sells off Shavlik patch management to LANDesk,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in virtualization and cloud computing at InfoWorld.com.