LANDesk Is Up for Sale

LANDesk up for Sale

Like a hot potato bounced from one owner’s hands to the next, LANDesk has had multiple parents in recent years. Emerson acquired LANDesk as part of the Avocent buyout in 2009. Earlier, Avocent acquired LANDesk in 2006. And before that, Intel spun out LANDesk in 2002. And before that, Intel had acquired LANDesk in 1991.

Got all that? Good. Let’s proceed to the current LANDesk story…

Hello, Goodbye

When Emerson announced quarterly results on Feb. 2, 2010, the company quietly disclosed plans to sell of LANDesk. Deep within the press release, Emerson mentioned:

The VAR Guy concedes: He didn’t hear about Emerson’s plans to sell LANDesk until this week. Two solutions providers reached out to our resident blogger, expressing concern about LANDesk amid an uncertain ownership picture.

“We’re already on LANDesk but we’re due to make some upgrades,” said one VAR. “How can I make that investment without knowing who is going to own LANDesk, and how the platform will be supported going forward?”

Hmmm… Great questions. The VAR Guy has reached out to Emerson and LANDesk, seeking an update on the potential LANDesk sale. The VAR Guy is watching the situation closely, especially since Symantec is rumored to be in the market looking to buy a managed services software platform.

Also, a channel source speculates that VMware may step in to buy LANDesk from Emerson. Looks like The VAR Guy needs to call VMware for comment now, too. But a VMware-LANDesk combo sounds a bit far fetched, given VMware’s focus on hype-growth opportunities.

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