Start-up couples desktop virtualization with security and manageability

Desktop virtualization start-up Kidaro says its software can not only deliver corporate applications to remote desktops and laptops, but can also help customers better secure and manage data on distributed remote devices.

The company's Managed Workspace product, which includes both server and distributed client software, adds security, manageability and usability features to desktop virtualization tools, the vendor says. The software works with standard virtual machines that reside and operate on the desktop or laptop, for instance, VMware, Microsoft Virtual PC or Vista.

"End users can work with corporate resources as though there were in their company's office," says Ran Oelgiesser, vice president of product marketing. "IT can continue to secure and manage that package on the remote client with all the utilities and methods within the organization."

The software lets customers group applications based on users or groups of users, create a list of Web applications and set policies to govern the virtual corporate workspace. The package is then distributed to client machines, where users only have access to data and applications defined by IT policies.

Kidaro's Managed Workspace also includes features that prevent it from sending unnecessary data. For instance, if the corporate applications run on Windows XP and the client machine has XP as its operating system, the software will know not to send XP again to the device.

Kidaro competes with Sentillion's vThere virtualization tools and in some cases VMware, though the vendor says its software is also complementary to VMware desktop products. Kidaro, founded in March 2005, has received about $14 million in two rounds of funding.