Roundup: Sprint, Citrix, EMC

Here’s a roundup of some of this week’s headlines from the data center and hosting industry:

Sprint to launch cloud services.  CNET reports that Sprint Nextel (S) has confirmed plans to enter the cloud services business in the fourth quarter.  In addition to selling its software, security applications and Internet hosting, Sprint will also offer an Infrastructure as a Service product, which will be available on-demand.  Sprint's Paget Alves, head of Sprint's business markets told CNET that initially the company is looking at a public cloud offering, but will eventually look at a hybrid model that straddles the public model along with a closed system for more secure applications. Additionally they hope to extend their Sprint ID program for businesses to create their own set of business-related apps.

Citrix acquires RingCube.  Citrix Systems (CTXS) announced that it has closed the acquisition of RingCube, a leader in user personalization technology for virtual desktops. Furthering their position in the desktop virtualization the RingCube technology gets rid of the tradeoff between user personalization and centralized IT management.  The product combines with Citrix XenDesktop to give each user a personalized virtual desktop, reduce the cost of storage, and simplify the move from physical to virtual desktops. Bob Schultz, Group Vice President and General Manager  of Enterprise Desktops and Applications at Citrix commented, "the acquisition of RingCube underscores our chief goal of enabling users to access their desktops and applications on any device, and making virtual desktops simple and affordable for IT. As customers take on enterprise-wide desktop transformation initiatives, Citrix is in the best position to provide a broad range of technology delivering multiple types of virtual desktops that satisfy every user in the enterprise. RingCube technology adds a significant capability to provide users and IT flexible, personal VDI desktops at a much lower cost."

EMC expands VMAX Virtual Data Center.  EMC Corporation introduced new software for its Symmetrix VMAX family of storage systems, extending its leading virtual data center and cloud storage capabilities. Unveiled at the SHARE mainframe user event in Orlando the new version of EMC AutoSwap software will support z/VM environments.  The new GDDR (Geographically Dispersed Disaster Restart) AutoSwap for z/VM allows mainframes running z/VM operating system to automatically  swap operations between two Symmetrix VMAX storage systems in the event of a disruption for continuous application availability and data protection and to meet strict governance, risk and compliance mandates. "With mainframe environments supporting massive numbers of virtual servers, workloads and users, availability becomes an even more pressing issue for IT managers," said Ben Woo, Vice President Storage and Big Data at IDC. "EMC is adding to its long list of mainframe storage capabilities with EMC GDDR AutoSwap for z/VM. This technology greatly simplifies and automates key processes required for a fail over to a secondary site, and is becoming an essential capability for mainframe administrators."