VMware Aims For Cloud With Log Insight Acquisition

VMware officials continue to build up their cloud computing capabilities through acquisitions, this time buying the Log Insight big data analytics platform from small technology vendor Pattern Insight.

Log Insight is designed to collect and analyse in real time the massive amounts of machine-generated data created in cloud and virtualised environments, and quickly let IT administrators know what is causing problems that are found.

In addition, through the collection and analysis of the data, Log Insight can shine a light on emerging trends and patterns that exist within the cloud computing environment, giving administrators insight into possible issues before they become full-blown problems.

Competition with Google, Amazon, Microsoft

The deal, announced on 7 August, follows more recent acquisitions by VMware as executives look to build up the company’s cloud capabilities to compete with the likes of Google, Amazon and Microsoft. In July, VMware announced it was buying DynamicOps, whose cloud automation technology offers multi-cloud, multi-platform and multi-vendor management capabilities.

The ability to manage along disparate vendor platforms is increasingly important as more enterprises adopt public, private and hybrid cloud computing platforms and virtualisation technologies not only from VMware, but also Microsoft and Citrix.

Later in July, VMware put a $1.26 billion (£770m) bid in for Nicira, a startup that offers software-defined networking technology. VMware officials hope to leverage the Nicira products, including its Network Virtualisation Platform, to create what they are calling the software-defined data centre, replacing traditional hardware-based facilities and creating the foundation for cloud environments.

Cetas Software acquisition

VMware also had made a previous acquisition in the area of big data analytics, grabbing Cetas Software in April. The startup created analytics solutions for Hadoop, a key standard for big data processing.

In a 7 August blog post, Spiros Xanthos, chief executive and co-founder of Pattern Insight, said VMware will benefit greatly by having Log Insight in its cloud portfolio.

“VMware is ideally positioned in the middle of two of the most important shifts in IT in the recent years, virtualisation and cloud computing,” Xanthos wrote. “It therefore provides the perfect home for Log Insight and the team to continue innovating.”

VMware is acquiring the Log Insight platform and its development team. No financial details were released.

Pattern Insight is a small company founded in 2006 by YuanYuan “YY” Zhou, at the time a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Along with Zhou – now the company’s CTO – other founders were members of her research team: Xanthos, Zhenmin Li and Bo Q. Zhu. The company is now based in Mountain View, California.

Pattern Insight will now focus on its other product, Code Assurance, another analysis tool that helps administrators find bugs in the quality assurance process.

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