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EMC sells Syncplicity sync'n'share biz to Skyview Capital. Told ya!

It's all about core products – and not giving VMware internal competition

EMC has divested its Syncplicity Dropbox clone enterprise file sync and share, which has been scooped up by private investment outfit Skyview Capital - confirming the rumours El Reg brought to you earlier today.

EMC acquired Syncplicity in 2012, quickly binding it to the Atmos and Isilon products and imbuing it with enterprise features.

Before long EMC added extra security, prettifying the product with a new design and the ability to edit Microsoft Office apps.

None of those efforts appear to have translated into a business EMC wants to own any more, because it's off to Skyview for a sum that's not been revealed by either party.

Did EMC cash out or bail out?

EMC just about says, in its canned quotes, that it bailed from a non-core business. President of products and marketing Jeremy Burton said: “... the standalone (enterprise file sync 'n' share) EFSS market is evolving rapidly; customers are continually looking for new end-user features and functionality to enable their increasingly mobile workforce."

"This is a step away from EMC’s core infrastructure strength. This move is designed to ensure that Syncplicity is adequately positioned for success in the evolving EFSS market and to enable EMC to increase our focus on core EMC Information Infrastructure investments,” he added.

Do those investments still include a serious tilt at document management? Sync 'n' share has been argued as document management's heir: the world is deemed to have tired of the latter and to be content with shared content buckets tamed by better security and policy.

If Syncplicity is surplus to requirements, what does it say about the rest of EMC's software business?

Let's also remember that VMware has enterprise sync 'n' share covered with with AirWatch Secure Content Locker, a part of the VMware Workspace Suite.

Virtzilla offers the Content Locker as part of a wider enterprise mobility sell. Syncplicity may have, as the statement about the deal said, “... emerged as a growing standard for companies in a wide variety of industries such as technology, health care, financial services, education, law and engineering services”, but does the EMC Federation want a sync 'n' share sale to such outfits when there's an enterprise mobility and application delivery sale to be made?

VMware has identified end-user computing as a major growth opportunity. Getting Syncplicity out of the way therefore looks like a handy way to weaken a competitor.

Or would, were it not for the fact that “the EMC salesforce will continue selling Syncplicity as part of the EMC Select partner program". How enthusiastically they sell it remains to be seen.

All Syncplicity staff will also move to Skyview. EMC promises it “will remain a large-scale Syncplicity customer". ®

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