Yahoo Selling Open Source Zimbra to VMware

Let the rumors rest in peace. Yahoo and VMware made it official today, announcing a deal that will see the virtualization giant take over the e-mail tech firm. Server Watch has the story on what Yahoo will keep through the deal, and what it means for VMware’s open source plans.

Yahoo has reached an agreement to sell its open source Zimbra e-mail collaboration unit to VMware. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but VMware said it expects the deal to close in the first quarter of calendar 2010.

As part of the deal, Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO) will continue to use Zimbra technology in its e-mail and calendar services, while VMware (NYSE: VMW) will acquire all of the intellectual property and technology rights.

VMware plans to continue to support Zimbra’s current open source and commercial efforts, while also integrating Zimbra with the VMware vSphere cloud-based infrastructure.

“Zimbra is a great example of the type of scalable ‘cloud era’ solutions that can span smaller, on-premise implementations to the cloud,” VMware Vice President Brian Byun said in a statement. “It will be a building block in an expanding portfolio of solutions that can be offered as a virtual appliance or by a cloud service provider.”

Read the full story at Server Watch:


It’s Official: Yahoo Deals Zimbra to VMware