Wanova

About Wanova

Wanova, Inc. operated in the enterprise software sector, providing what it termed "Distributed Desktop Virtualization" solutions. The company was established in January 2008 by Ilan Kessler and Dr. Issy Ben-Shaul. This venture marked the second successful exit for the founders, who had previously co-founded Actona Technologies and sold it to Cisco in 2004.

The company's core business revolved around helping IT organizations manage, protect, and support desktop and laptop computers across an enterprise. Wanova's flagship product, Wanova Mirage, was designed to centralize control over a company's desktop infrastructure. Unlike traditional server-hosted Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), Mirage worked by creating a complete, bootable instance of a user's desktop in the data center, which was then synchronized with the end-user's local PC or laptop. This architecture allowed for centralized management while still leveraging the local processing power of the end-user's machine, ensuring performance and enabling offline use. Key features included single image management, which allowed an IT administrator to manage one primary operating system image and deploy it across thousands of endpoints, and the ability to seamlessly migrate users' desktops to new hardware. The system also facilitated remote repairs and OS upgrades, such as moving from Windows XP to Windows 7, over the network.

The business model targeted IT departments within medium to large enterprises, generating revenue through the sale of its software licenses. The company's headquarters was in San Jose, California, with a significant research and development center in Netanya, Israel. In its early stages, Wanova secured $13 million in funding from investors including Greylock Partners, Carmel Ventures, and Opus Capital. A significant milestone occurred on May 22, 2012, when VMware announced its acquisition of Wanova for an estimated $70-80 million. The acquisition aimed to integrate Wanova's Mirage technology with VMware's existing End-User Computing portfolio, particularly its VMware View product, to offer a comprehensive solution for managing both physical and virtual desktops.