The application virtualization startup Endeavors Technologies (formerly Steam Theory) certainly had one of the most complex and painful evolutions in the virtualization market.
From May 2006 to October 2007 the company was involved in patent lawsuits with Microsoft (after the Softricity acquisition), Citrix, AppStream and Exent.
In May 2008, it mistakenly announced the advent of a new Microsoft licensing (SPLA) which allows 3rd parties to stream Office.
In July 2008 the company suspended its share from the London Stock Exchange detailing a difficult financial situation.
And finally, in August 2008, it entered into controlled administration.
During the last two years the company somehow managed to continue its operations and now it’s back announcing a new Chairman: Osman Kent, the co-founder and former CEO of 3Dlabs, the glorious graphic cards vendor that became famous in the 2000 before being acquired by Creative Labs.
Kent left 3Dlabs in 2002, dedicating the next 6 years and a half to Songphonic, an independent music record and publishing label.
Kent has now a challenging role, as he needs to recover the customers’ trust, demonstrate that Endeavors Technologies can compete against huge vendors like Citrix, Microsoft and VMware, evangelize a market that doesn’t seem too keen to adopt application virtualization technologies, and leverage the many patents that his new company holds to turn the company into a profitable business.