Quest uses Surgient, why not acquire it?

quest logo

So far Quest Software has made some serious investments in the virtualization space.
It acquired Invirtus in June 2007, Provision Networks in November 2007, Vizioncore in January 2008.
The company even acquired the interesting storage startup Monosphere in January 2009 that nicely complements virtualization solutions.
And for sure the company makes no secret anymore of its big ambitions in this virtualization industry.

It’s hard to believe that the Quest appetite will stop here. The only real question is what the company will target next to extend and better integrate its current portfolio.

Maybe we have a hint in the today’s announcement released by Surgient.
The virtual lab automation company is slowly but deeply changing its go-to-market strategy and just like every other IT firm today, it’s waving its commitment on cloud computing.

Putting the hype aside, one of the quotes included is interesting and comes from Quest:

“We rely on Surgient to create a private cloud that provides our customers and partners with on-demand access to resources, thus reducing travel expenses and reducing sales cycles,” said Gale Dillow, manager of the Quest Solution Center at Quest Software, Inc. “The thought of using resources outside of our data center presents significant security concerns; but there are many benefits to cloud computing that we are already realizing, thanks to Surgient.”

Considering how enthusiastic Quest sounds here, it seems natural to wonder if they are seriously evaluating an acquisition.