VMware Acquires Startup CloudVolumes To Speed Virtual App Delivery To Desktops

VMware added another piece to its end-user computing portfolio Wednesday by acquiring CloudVolumes, a startup focused on delivering virtual apps to desktops.

Delivering apps to desktop users can be "challenging and cumbersome" because all kinds of glitches can happen, particularly in Windows environments, Kit Colbert, CTO of End-User Computing at VMware, said in a blog post.

CloudVolumes solves these issues with "layering" technology that splits a Windows instance into separate pieces, into which apps can easily and quickly be added, Colbert said in the blog post.

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CloudVolumes works with both virtual and physical environments. Apps in layers can be added on the fly to running desktops, making application delivery faster, according to Colbert.

VMware plans to integrate CloudVolumes' technology with its Horizon desktop virtualization software.

"No longer does the admin need to coordinate an outage window to install an app or do an update. Now the new or updated app can be delivered to a running, logged in desktop in a completely transparent fashion," said Colbert in the blog post.

In a separate blog post, Harry Labana, senior vice president and chief product officer at CloudVolumes, said his firm's technology obviates the need to manage apps on virtual machines.

"By virtualizing above the OS, applications can be natively provisioned without modification," Labana said in the blog post.

"Applications become abstracted from the underlying OS and organized into application management containers leveraging existing storage and networking. These applications can then be delivered to diverse environments in real time," said Labana in the blog post.

VMware has been focusing more on application virtualization this year. Horizon 6, launched in April, uses Microsoft's Remote Desktop Services (RDS) technology to deliver hosted apps and session-based desktops to any type of device.

Financial details of CloudVolumes acquisition were not disclosed, but VMware said in a press release it expects the deal to be "immaterial" to its financial results.

CloudVolumes, Santa Clara, Calif., has raised $4.4 million in two funding rounds since its founding in 2011, including a $2.1 million angel round last July.