VMware Gently Nudges Microsoft with a Zimbra

VMware bought Zimbra, a maker of open-source collaboration software, from Yahoo. The deal thrusts VMware into the e-mail- and calendar- services business, because Zimbra has sold licenses to more than 55 million mailboxes. Over the years, Zimbra had made it a particular mission to pull customers away from Microsoft’s Exchange e-mail services.

Zimbra’s tale is a curious one.

Yahoo acquired Zimbra in 2007 for $350 million. At the time, Yahoo looked to expand beyond its consumer e-mail services and to sell more e-mail services to businesses.

Under the leadership of Carol Bartz, Yahoo has moved to focus more on its content operations and to get rid of non-core assets, as the business lingo goes. And so Zimbra, like Yahoo’s internal search operations (taken over by Microsoft), were expendable. Read more...