Wed 15 Aug 2007
You may have heard: VMware just had their IPO. They're now listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VMW.
I'm going long on this company. I like their leadership and the fact that the President and CEO, Diane Greene, is a co-founder with previous CEO experience. She was the CEO of VXtreme, a streaming media technology company that was acquired by Microsoft (MSFT) in 1997.
I also love their products and have actually used their software before. As a front-end engineer trying to build web applications, you have to test your code across a large variety of web browser and operating system combinations. It's a very tedious task. And it can be very costly if you go out and buy a separate computer for each use case.
Fortunately, VMware's Desktop Virtualization Products can lower the financial burden considerably. Instead of five machines, you now only need one. Multiple that across an organization of hundreds of front-end engineers and you have mega moolah savings. I heart VMware.
There is a lot of buzz over VMware though, with the media calling it "the hottest tech IPO since Google (GOOG)." It's easy to fall prey to the buzz and believe all the hype.
So if you're thinking about buying some VMW yourself, don't take my word for it. Here are two great articles pro and con their IPO for your enlightenment:
- Is the VMware IPO Worthy of All the Hype? by Chris Krasowski
- VMware IPO by Khanan Grauer
August 16th, 2007 at 9:14 am
Yes, but now that Citrix bought up XenSource, will Citrix be a strong rivaling contender against VMware? Considering the great reputation of Citrix, VMware likely won't live up to the hype.
August 16th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Hmm. Personally, I don't know of many people or companies that use Citrix's products. I wonder who their core customers are.
Also, interestingly enough, the market hasn't been as kind to CTXS lately (wow, what a price drop). But if you believe that MSFT could be looking to buy CTXS, this would be a great time to buy them! Hmmm!
August 17th, 2007 at 9:00 pm
The firm I formerly worked at used Citrix products. Many similarly situated firms in the area use it, too. I haven't been watching the market, so I'll trust you on your observation.