VMware acquires RTO assets

VMware is set to acquire assets from privately held software company, RTO Software - although the company's best-known product, TScale will remain with RTO.

Under the terms of the deal, RTO's other products - Virtual Profiles, Pinpoint and Discover - will cease to be standalone products and will be integrated within VMware's existing product lines, although VMware is not proving any specifics at the moment.

Virtual Profiles is used to improve profile management, Pinpoint is an application monitoring product and Discover is an asset management tool.

VMware said in a statement that the integration of software would allow IT organisations to "simplify and automate the capture and management of an end-user's personality while providing the richest end-user experience."

Under the terms of the deal, which is for an undisclosed sum, customers for the RTO Software products will be supported for the length of those contracts while RTO resellers will be offered the opportunity to resell VMware software.

The two companies already had an agreement. The companies announced a deal last year that meant VMware using RTO software for its profile caching and replication technology. The software is used to provide a more personalised view of the desktop within a VMware View environment and according to VMware's desktop CTO, Scott Davis is a crucial part of VMware's user-centric business.

RTO's TScale, which is remaining with the company, is software designed to accelerate applications running on Citrix Terminal Servers, which is one of the reasons that VMware was not interested in TScale, according to virtualisation blogger, Brian Madden, who added that RTO was also rumoured to be developing TScale for Hyper-V, making another reason for VMware's lack of interest.

No-one from VMware was available to comment on the deal.