Apps & Cloud3 min read

Intent to Acquire SaltStack

Alex Wang

VMware Announces Intent to Acquire SaltStack

Applications drive digital transformation, and application needs drive multi-cloud strategies. VMware’s cloud strategy has been defined by the notion that all roads lead to the app. VMware Cloud supports the broadest multi-cloud environment, spanning all clouds and application types to deliver consistent infrastructure and operations, and enable a consistent developer model. As any good strategy goes, we are continually listening to customers and looking for ways to improve our VMware Cloud portfolio. Today, I’m pleased to announce VMware’s intent to acquire SaltStack, a pioneer in building intelligent, event-driven automation software.

So, why is SaltStack important to VMware’s customers? Because time is money and speed is the new currency for digital transformation, VMware works hard to give customers a fast and simple path to cloud for their VMware-based workloads. We started by giving customers a home for these workloads in the cloud with VMware Cloud on AWS, which we build, run and sell alongside our strategic public cloud partner AWS. Over the past several years, this has expanded, and customers can now tun VMware-based workloads on every major hyperscaler and more than 200 Cloud Verified partners globally.

To get our customers to the cloud, we offer VMware HCX, which allows customers to literally mass migrate 1,000s of vSphere workloads in a short amount of time. Customers can automate infrastructure across clouds with VMware vRealize, and the next logical step was to enable more seamless onboarding and better cross-cloud orchestration with configuration management. This is what we are getting with SaltStack.

Once closed, SaltStack will allow us to deliver full-stack automation from infrastructure to applications with the ability to do software configuration inside VMs and containers. SaltStack has built a phenomenal open source community, which we will continue to grow and foster consistent with our open source strategy. And while our strategy has been one of supporting best-in-class choice of supporting configuration management, we believe many customers will want something simple and integrated.

Successful companies in this new era will not be the biggest or the fastest, but the ones that are agile, can adapt their business models to the needs of the current times and, simply put, are fast. And cloud is a key ingredient to deliver on that business agility, and we expect SaltStack will help our customers on their multi-cloud journey.

Read this blog from Ajay Singh for more details on this announcement.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements including, among other things, statements regarding VMware's intention to acquire SaltStack, the expected benefits of the acquisition and complementary nature and strategic advantages of combined offerings and opportunities after close. These forward-looking statements are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (1) the ability of the parties to satisfy closing conditions to the acquisition on a timely basis or at all; (2) economic and market conditions, regulatory requirements and other corporate considerations that could affect the timing and closing conditions to the acquisition; (3) the ability to successfully integrate acquired companies and assets into VMware; (4) the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations, financial condition, our customers, the business environment and the global and regional economies; (5) VMware’s customers’ ability to transition to new products, platforms, services, solutions and computing strategies in such areas as containerization, modern applications, intrinsic security and networking, cloud, digital workspaces, virtualization and the software defined data center, and the uncertainty of their acceptance of emerging technology; (6) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the virtualization software and cloud, end user and mobile computing, and security industries, as well as new product and marketing initiatives by VMware’s competitors; (7) VMware's ability to enter into and maintain strategically effective partnerships; (8) rapid technological changes in the virtualization software and cloud, end user, security and mobile computing industries; (9) other business effects, including those related to industry, market, economic, political, regulatory and global health conditions; (10) VMware's ability to protect its proprietary technology; (11) VMware's ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees; (12) the continued risk of litigation and regulatory actions; (13) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (14) changes in VMware's financial condition; and (15) VMware's relationship with Dell Technologies, the potential impact of Dell's investigation of strategic alternatives with respect to its interest in VMware, and Dell's ability to control matters requiring stockholder approval. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this blog, are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including VMware's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K that we may file from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this announcement.