Citrix eyes desktop virtualisation

By Christelle du Toit, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 16 Aug 2007

Software giant Citrix is buying open source company XenSource for $500 million in cash and stock.

In a global Web-conference yesterday, the companies announced the decision to the world's media.

Citrix VP for marketing and product strategy Wess Wasson says the acquisition will allow the software company to move into adjacent server and desktop virtualisation markets.

He points out there are many emerging opportunities in the desktop market, with industry experts estimating 30 million office workers will move to virtual desktops over the next five years. Wasson says this represents a new $1 billion market for desktop virtualisation, which he believes Citrix and XenSource will be perfectly poised to capitalise on.

Traditionally an open source company, XenSource only recently released commercial offerings in the shape of XenEnterprise software. XenSource international sales director John Glendenning explains that, while open source software is freely available, "it is an engine, not a car. It doesn't have a dashboard, or a steering wheel or a driver."

Glendenning says the commercial offering of XenSource gives customers the management element that open software alone cannot.

Committed to open source

Both Wasson and Glendenning reiterated their commitment to open source development with the original Xen project to be headed by XenSource co-founder Ian Pratt.

Asked whether XenSource would invest in further research and development for its open source division in light of the cash injection the company is to receive, Glendenning said: "Suffice to say, there will be additional investments going into this piece of the solution."

Both parties also spoke about their alignment with Microsoft. XenSource has been working with Microsoft to ensure compatibility with its upcoming Windows hypervisor, code-named Viridian, while Citrix already specialises in delivering Windows applications.

The Citrix/XenSource deal is expected to be completed before the end of the calendar year and is subject to a number of closing conditions, such as regulatory review and approval.