Microsoft snaps up Opalis

Aims to extend System Center offerings.

Microsoft has expanded its data centre capabilities by announcing the acquisition of IT process automation firm Opalis Software.

Opalis produces software which automates the tasks involved in running a data centre including Run Book Automation and virtual machine lifecycle management.

It also sells an automation platform for creating workflows across data centre management tools, and “deep integration capabilities” to co-ordinate tasks across server infrastructure and third party systems management tools.

In a blog posting, Microsoft corporate vice president Brad Anderson argued that the Opalis portfolio would be a good fit for Microsoft’s System Center IT infrastructure and server management solutions.

“I believe this acquisition is a pivotal piece to deliver on our dynamic data centre initiative. This deal brings together the deep data centre automation expertise of Opalis with the integrated physical and virtualised data centre management capabilities of Microsoft System Center,” he wrote.

“I believe Opalis’ software together with the System Center suite will improve the efficiency of IT staff and operations, and customers will gain greater process consistency.”

By adding Opalis’ software to System Center, Microsoft will be able to help customers automate their IT processes, thereby saving costs and shortening IT service delivery timeframes across all environments, he added.

“Customer feedback is that the Opalis software is easy to use, easy to deploy and delivers value in a short period of time,” wrote Anderson.

“This part is important. Out of the box, Opalis products integrate with System Center, and will allow System Center to integrate with other infrastructure software from CA, BMC, HP and others to integrate across an IT organisation.”