Virtualization Startup Bursts From Financial Giant

The venture offshoot of Credit Suisse has launched a small virtualization software startup from within the bank itself.

DynamicOps LLC emerged from stealth today, with a claim to have off-the-shelf management software for sale. Called Virtual Resource Manager (VRM), the product tracks and manages the deployment of virtualized environments based on VMware, Citrix, and Microsoft hypervisors, as well as on other virtual infrastructure elements, such as Solaris Zones or LPARS.

VRM originated as a custom-developed package for the Global R&D Group at Credit Suisse. A group led by Steve Yatko, managing director of the division, spent over two years creating a series of tools that keeps track of thousands of virtual desktops and servers at four locations worldwide. "VRM enabled us to reduce our provisioning lead times from weeks to minutes," said Stephen Hilton, managing director of Enterprise Servers and Storage at Credit Suisse, in a statement.

When the bank saw it was onto something potentially marketable, its NEXT II venture group got involved and bankrolled the startup for an undisclosed sum. The Burlington, Mass.-based firm spun out as an independent entity in late January 2008 but has taken a few months to assemble enough of an internal infrastructure, including a Website and 15 employees, to be ready to tell its tale.

Part of the education process will be letting potential customers know they don't have to replace anyting to use VRM. "We don't compete with the hypervisor vendors, we're complimentary to them," says Rich Krueger, the former EVP of business development and international sales at Incipient, who also worked at EMC.