VMware is an extremely influential international company in the field of virtualization and cloud infrastructure. Nonetheless, their announcement at VMworld 2010 concerning the acquisition of  Integrien, and TriChiper, a provider of security services via a unified authentication infrastructure focused on SaaS applications, raised a second wave of speculation regarding another potential purchase.  Novell’s open-source operating system SUSE Linux, has been a point of interest for analysts for some time, and it looks like the matter is being revisited.  As reported by The Wall Street Journal,

“The speculation about a deal comes after a report by the New York Post Wednesday that software provider Novell has reached a deal in principle to sell itself in two parts…Several analysts said the most likely purchaser of SUSE Linux is virtualization and cloud infrastructure company VMware, noting that the company is already partnered with Novell in this area. They also said that purchasing the SUSE Linux could be a good strategic move for VMware.”

In the light of the numerous acquisitions and mergers taking place within the cloud industry these days, the reports of industry analytics, the active partnership of VMware and Novell as well as the fact that this is the second time VMware is named as a potential buyer of Novell’s SUSE Linux, what may have once been guesswork is now looking to become a well-calculated conclusion.

Other companies named as potential buyers of Novell include IBM, Oracle and Red Hat.