Avocent Corp., known for its SwitchView and AutoView KVM devices for controlling desktops and servers, has reached a deal to buy LanDesk Software in a US$416 million cash and stock deal.
LanDesk, an Intel spin-off, makes a wide range of applications allowing IT managers to remotely control, patch and inventory desktops, servers and mobile devices. It also has moved into business process management applications with its Autobahn software, which lets users design a business process workflow in a drag-and-drop environment.
”It gives us (LanDesk) reach into the data centre,” Dave Taylor, the company’s vice-president of worldwide marketing, said of the deal.
“From (Avocent’s) perspective they had this great real estate in the data centre and they needed more value-added services. Together our two companies cover all of the infrastructure pieces – servers in the data centre, networking gear, desktops, laptops, handhelds.”
Many LanDesk channel partners will also be pleased, Taylor said.
“They have been focused primarily on a software sale. This is an opportunity for some of those who have more hardware expertise to really stretch out a little bit . . . I think they’ll jump all over it.”
For the time being the two companies’ channel programs will not be merged, he also said.
VAR pleased
Henry Van Pypen, general manager of the technical environmental solutions division of TAB Canada, one of Avocent’s largest Canadian resellers, thinks the opportunity to add LanDesk products to his offerings is “rather exciting.”
The division sells racking, KVM and power management systems to Fortune 500 companies and governments.
“This is a very interesting extention to manage software applications, problem resolution and asset management beyond the server world Avocent is known for,” he said of the deal.
“It appears to be something our clients would be interested in,” he said.
Headquartered in Alabama, Avocent’s main competitor in the KVM market is Raritan. LanDesk’s competitors include applications from Microsoft, Novell, BMC Software, Hewlett-Packard and Symantec.