The announcement by VMware of their intent to acquire Airwatch an Atlanta based company in a $1.5B purchase is a very shrewd move on VMware’s part. This deal compises of $1.175B in Cash and $365M in as stated by the “Instalment payments and assumed unvested equity”.
Airwatch’s main value proposition was in Mobile device management, their device reach was impressive, with being able to manage; apple, symbian, blackberry, Android and Windows devices, further the ability to manage Desktops is a bonus, AirWatch together with Citrix are seen as a leaders in the EMM space and is placed in the Leaders quadrant by Gartner on their Magic quadrant graph for the market.
In one fowl swoop VMware will fill an obvious gap in their EUC proposition, answering the final questions about their commitment and dedication to the EUC market place. It also closes the gap between them and Citrix their major competitor in the EUC market in protecting the endpoint, further the Airwatch acquisition will give VMware basic capability to manage laptop devices, opening up the ability to offer BYOD management into their portfolio.
It could be argued that this purchase was reactive and as a result of IBM and Citrix moving in this space with their acquisitions of FibreLink, MasS360 and Zenprise respectively, however I do this is a positive move on VMware’s part firming up their EUC offerings and tightening the end point security.