| Aduva gets snapped up by Sun |
Feb. 24, 2006
Sun Microsystems Inc. announced this week that it has reached an agreement to acquire Linux and Solaris patch management software company, Aduva.
Aduva's technology enables businesses to automate patch and dependency management for Solaris and Linux servers. Aduva can be used both by small businesses with a handful of servers, and by data-centers with hundreds or thousands of servers.
Unlike other patch management programs, Aduva's OnStage does more than simply coordinate and automate patch updates. Instead, it relies on a knowledge base, which consists of software dependency rules. These rules, in turn, come from Aduva's 7x24 Automated Certification Lab. This Lab generates real-world dependency rules for thousands of authenticated Linux and Solaris components.
By continuously running automated tests between components across the deployment to production lifecycle, components and dependency rules are created. This gives system administrators a tool that enables them to deploy just the right mix of updates for their particular production environment.
With OnStage, a system administrator can manage SUSE, Red Hat Linux, and Solaris systems from a single console.
Sun will be making Aduva's multi-platform services available for individual customers behind their own firewalls, or as an automated service from Sun's Grid.
One open-source specialist at a global systems integration firm really hopes this means that OnStage's price will be coming down to earth.
"I tried to propose [Aduva's] product on several engagements, but it's too bloody expensive. And to make matters worse, they were asking integration firms to bare the costs of trials. Give us fifteen grand and we'll let you use it for test for the duration of the engagement. My boss's response, f*** you! Literally."
System integrators and VARs (value-added resellers) typically pay nothing for software and hardware that they're evaluating for use by their customers.
That said, he continued, "Aduva is a unique product because it's the only one on the market that is capable of patching all the major Linux distributions, along with Solaris and other versions of Unix."
"Still, the software has been prohibitively expensive, as a large implementation (over 100 machines) can get into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'm hoping the acquisition will bring their prices down to reality and make them easier to work with," he concluded.
"By acquiring Aduva, Sun will be addressing the number one pain point we hear from IT administrators -- patch management -- while addressing the principle cause of service downtime and system vulnerability: out of date systems and patches," said Don Grantham, executive vice president of Sun Services, in a statement.
"By integrating this technology into our offerings and services, Sun can enable customers to update thousands of systems at the touch of a button," Grantham added.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of Sun's 2006 fiscal year which begins on March 27, 2006. The terms of the deal were not disclosed as the transaction is considered immaterial to Sun's earnings per share.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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