I am happy to announce that VMware has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Shavlik Technologies. Our two companies have a long-term relationship built upon VMware GO™ (www.vmwarego.com), our joint SaaS based IT Management solution. VMware GO assists SMBs with rapid deployment and management of VMware vSphere, the VMware Hypervisor and general IT management of both physical and virtual computers. VMware GO has attracted over 200,000 registered users creating more than 20,000 VMware Hypervisors and 120,000 Virtual machines.

Shavlik and VMware share a vision of IT Management for now and the future. A vision of delivering solid, easy to use IT solutions to SMBs to enable customers to take full advantage of the efficiencies gained with the latest technologies. My team and I have been working to simplify IT for many years and we look forward to taking our experience and passion forward with VMware. We will be enabling our customers to work with new solutions in Cloud Computing, SaaS, Security, Virtualization, IT Management and other critical areas by driving VMware GO forward. We will also be entering global markets much faster by working with Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and Solution Providers. This enables more companies around the world to utilize our SaaS and On-Premise solutions.

Shavlik Technologies was founded in 1993 to offer a new approach to security application design and development that enabled us to take big steps in the simplification of computer security while at the same time creating a very trustworthy product. Since then, we have grown to help thousands of customers simplify their IT management. Becoming part of VMware is the next step for my company and me in this evolution. Our patch, compliance and end-point security and other expertise will of course continue to be a strong area of value for our customers and for market differentiation. We will continue to build on these areas as well as our on-premise solutions as we move forward in enabling SMBs to manage core IT functions through a single pane of glass, centralizing asset management, security, business continuity and data protection capabilities, in addition to other areas.

We are all committed to providing every customer with continuity and investment protection including smooth upgrade paths to greater functionality and access to high quality services for both packaged software and SaaS delivered software. We intend to accelerate innovation related to our critical offerings, and collaborate with customers, partners and the industry to continue to deliver great new solutions. Our current customers will continue to be supported by the Shavlik Technologies sales and support personnel as they are today.

I want to thank all Shavlik employees past and present as well as our partners. Because of your hard work and dedication, we were able to build a great company. I am proud of our accomplishments and look forward to working with you as we create the next chapter in IT management solutions.

I also want to thank our customers. It is with great appreciation and gratitude that we begin the next step in us working together. I look forward to joining VMware and together with my team, providing you easy-to-use and affordable solutions that help you manage, monitor and secure both physical and virtual environments.

Mark Shavlik