Citrix Makes a Run at the Cloud

Many telecommuters know Citrix Systems for its programs that let them access their office applications from home. That arcane bit of software represents steady, profitable sales that investors love; the company’s stock has risen nearly 70 percent in the past year. But the future of the tech business isn’t PCs, it’s cloud computing—running applications on distant servers rather than on the machine in front of you—a fast-growing business where Citrix has made little headway. Now it’s embarking on a new push in that market.

On July 12, Citrix paid what Chief Executive Officer Mark B. Templeton says was less than $200 million for Cloud.com, a startup that helps companies manage data traffic on their servers. Instead of assigning computing tasks to specific machines, Cloud.com’s software, CloudStack, can split the work among pools of computers, pulling them in when needed and freeing them up for other jobs when done. CloudStack also makes it easier for companies to quickly roll out new applications to users worldwide rather than forcing them to wait for a technician to do the work. The Cloud.com deal “is about technology, the team, and market momentum,” Templeton says. Citrix’s shares fell 3.6 percent following news of the acquisition, recovering some on July 13.