Just what is the deal between Microsoft and InfoVista

Stuart Corner
Sunday, 21 January 2007 08:33

Opinion and Analysis

InfoVista - a company that provides network performance and management software to some of the world's largest telcos, (including Telstra) and enterprises - has signed a $US15 million deal with Microsoft, but just what does it involve.

InfoVista will license $US15 million of its software products to Microsoft over the next three years. These include its VistaInsight for Servers, VistaInsight for Networks, and VistaInsight for IP Telephony. These products are designed to facilitate the optimal performance management of data centres, enterprise networking and in-house unified communications, respectively. (The similarity between InfoVista's company name and a certain new Microsoft software product is purely co-incidental).

Nothing unusual there. Microsoft is a very big global corporation, so it needs these kinds of tools just as much as any other. And the comments by Microsoft CIO, Stuart Stock, in the press release reflect this: "We are pleased to have entered into this licensing agreement and we are looking forward to working with InfoVista in the future as we aim to optimise our information technology management."

But what to make of this comment from InfoVista's Jean-Luc Valente? "This is an historic deal for InfoVista that enables us to accelerate the delivery of our vision to help enterprises maximise the business value of their IT infrastructure."

Not the sort of comment you would make about what seems to be just another big sale to another big customer. Rather it suggests there will be some sort of collaborative offerings to other large enterprise or possible telco customers. And Valente's job title  - senior vice president, marketing and strategic alliances - also suggests there may be more to the deal than a straight sale to an end user.