NetApp Acquires Cloud-based VDI Vendor CloudJumper

By David Marshall

Storage and cloud data service provider NetApp has expanded its desktop virtualization capabilities with this week’s acquisition of CloudJumper, an independent ISV software provider for remote desktop and application workspace solutions in the end-user computing (EUC) market.  No financial details were announced, though it is interesting to note that CloudJumper built itself without any venture capital money invested in it.

The news about CloudJumper is the second acquisition by NetApp in as little as two months.  In March, NetApp announced the acquisition of Talon Storage, a next generation software-defined storage solution that enables global enterprises to centralize and consolidate IT storage infrastructure to the public clouds. 

While the news is timely because of the mass “work from home” initiative that is taking place right now, the acquisition isn’t reactionary.   Even before the acquisition announcement, NetApp was already focused on desktop virtualization and boosting its own cloud portfolio.

CloudJumper’s solution is called Cloud Workspace Management Suite (CWMS).  And CWMS will provide NetApp with a VDI & RDS alternative to both Citrix and VMware.  The solution is cloud-agnostic, and it supports Microsoft Azure, Google, AWS and regional cloud providers – as well as complex hybrid technologies.

As a result of the acquisition, the new NetApp Virtual Desktop Service (VDS) will be able to take on the most challenging problems of virtual desktop services and application management, allowing customers to deploy, manage, monitor and optimize those environments as a total solution from a single company on the public cloud of their choice.

Together, NetApp and CloudJumper will provide its customers with a simplified management platform for delivering virtual desktop infrastructure, storage and data management across Microsoft Azure, AWS and Google Cloud with its own virtual desktop management, combined with their own storage and data services.

Anthony Lye, senior vice president and general manager of NetApp’s Cloud Data Services business unit, said, “NetApp’s vision is to deliver complete solutions for specific primary and secondary workloads across any cloud.  CloudJumper shares our point of view that customers are moving to cloud providers to centralize access to desktops, applications, and tools with better management and security of their corporate infrastructure and workforce.”

Lye went on to say, “By combining forces, we will help customers further reduce infrastructure costs and improve security and protection of corporate data, essential for both the current environment and long-term business continuity.”

CloudJumper gives customers a simple and secure path to the future by managing current environments – often on-premises or using older technologies such as Remote Desktop Services (RDS) – in addition to the environment the market is moving to – cloud hosted desktops using Windows Virtual Desktops (WVD).  NetApp VDS provides CloudJumper’s customers highly resilient data storage with enterprise-class features including performance, high availability, global file caching, backup, compliance and essential capabilities to help move business operations to the cloud.

NetApp VDS will be available immediately on NetApp Cloud Central and integrated with Azure NetApp Files and Cloud Volumes.  And according to the company, NetApp will add significant resources to the existing CloudJumper channel partner program enhancing the capabilities of MSP, VAR, SI and ISV partners to solve customer challenges and grow their businesses.

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About the Author

David Marshall is an industry recognized virtualization and cloud computing expert, an eleven time recipient of the VMware vExpert distinction, and has been heavily involved in the industry for the past 20+ years.  To help solve industry challenges, he co-founded and helped start several successful virtualization software companies such as ProTier, Surgient, Hyper9 and Vertiscale. He also spent a number of years transforming desktop virtualization while at Virtual Bridges.

David is an author of two very popular server virtualization books and the Technical Editor on Wiley’s “Virtualization for Dummies” and “VMware VI3 for Dummies” books.  David authored countless articles for a number of well known technical magazines, including: InfoWorld, Virtual-Strategy and TechTarget.  In 2004, he founded the oldest independent virtualization and cloud computing news site, VMblog.com, which he still operates today.

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