Citrix goes for SMBs in Kaviza acquisition

Citrix has agreed to acquire virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) firm Kaviza as it aims to strike further blows against rival VMware.

The major virtualisation player has bought into Kaviza's VDI-in-a-Box solution, which is aimed at the small and medium-sized business (SMB) segment.

VDI-in-a-Box eliminates the need for often costly bits of desktop virtualisation support kit, including provisioning servers and load balancers.

The kMGR softtware within the VDI offering eradicates the need for a storage area network (SAN) for VDI installations, again cutting extra costs, according to Kaviza.

The product comes as a single virtual appliance and can get a company's full desktop virtualisation deployment out in under two hours, according to Citrix.

Kaviza's open architecture means companies can employ the VDI software on numeorus hypervisors, including Citrix's own XenServer and VMware's ESX, with Microsoft Hyper-V support coming soon.

"Kaviza understands the needs of small and medium businesses and has made great strides in giving these types of organisations a simple, low-cost solution for virtual desktops," said Gordon Payne, senior vice president and general manager of the desktop division at Citrix.

"The Kaviza team and the innovative technology they have built will add significant value to our desktop virtualisation product line as more and more SMBs adopt virtual desktops, and it will help us drive continued growth and market leadership in desktop virtualisation."

The terms of the deal were undisclosed and there was no further information on how the Kaviza product would be rolled into Citrix's own desktop virtualisation offerings.

Citrix made the announcement ahead of its Synergy 2011 conference in San Francisco, where IT PRO will be reporting from this week.