VMware Inks OEM Deal With Endpoint Security Startup Tanium, Aims To Ease Windows 10 Migrations

VMware is teaming up with Tanium, a well-funded Silicon Valley security startup, on a new type of software that secures endpoints and eases Windows 10 desktop migration projects.

The new offering, called TrustPoint, includes endpoint security technology from an OEM agreement VMware inked recently with Tanium, which has raised more than $300 million in funding and had a valuation of $3.5 billion after its last round in September 2015.

Tanium's proprietary peer-to-peer technology lets organizations continually scan all endpoints in their global networks, finding and fixing security vulnerabilities and identifying and controlling unmanaged devices.

[Related: VMware Acquires Startup That Focuses On Making NSX Software-Defined Networking Better]

TrustPoint can also handle Windows 7 to Windows 10 desktop migrations in an automated fashion, using technology from VMware's 2012 acquisition of virtualization startup Wanova.

"This lets customers migrate hundreds of machines at the same time, and show strong return on investment for migrations from Windows 7 to Windows 10," Dave Grant, vice president of product marketing in VMware's End User Computing unit, said in an interview with CRN.

Grant said TrustPoint offers a unified dashboard for the Tanium and Mirage tech that allows an IT admin to monitor, discover and manage threats and vulnerabilities, and to manage endpoint updates and OS migrations.

Scott Miller, director of data center at VMware partner World Wide Technology, said he sees the Tanium partnership as a "smart move" that should help VMware capture more end user computing business.

"Powering their TrustPoint solution with Tanium is huge. It will help VMware further differentiate and be the architecture of choice for end user virtualization," said Miller. "Security seems to be the biggest driver behind end user virtualization these days."

TrustPoint is priced at $75 per device for a perpetual license. VMware said it expects to start selling TrustPoint in the U.S. later this month, with other regions to follow later this year.