Dive Brief:
- VMware, a San Francisco-based maker of cloud computing and virtualization systems, announced its intent to acquire two smaller tech companies Thursday. It plans to acquire cloud security company Carbon Black and software development platform Pivotal in deals valued at $2.1 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively.
- The addition of Pivotal will let VMware "deliver a comprehensive Kubernetes portfolio to build, run and manage modern applications," said Pat Gelsinger, CEO at VMware, in the announcement. Carbon Black, Gelsinger said in a separate statement, will in turn equip VMware with an "enterprise-grade platform" in the security space.
- The $4.8 billion push to acquire these two companies is the latest round of M&A activity from publicly-traded VMware. On Tuesday, the company confirmed the acquisition of serverless computing startup Intrinsic for an undisclosed amount.
Dive Insight:
The recent acquisition push from the company shows the scope of the puzzle VMware's trying to solve for: how to retain and grow its customers amid heated competition from hyperscaler providers.
"It's actually part of an acquisition spree they've been on," said Craig Lowery, VP of research at Gartner. "They've been doing it at a serious clip."
Pivotal brings to VMware a high-end programming solution, one that is more appealing to software developers, the analyst said. This puts VMware closer to where Azure and AWS are: two IaaS players that offer developers less-restrictive, easier to use programming platforms.
In turn, Carbon Black's security tool will add capabilities that let VMware offer stronger protection to its enterprise users. The cybersecurity platform uses a combination of big data and behavioral analytics to offer endpoint protection to 5,600 customers and 500 partners.
