Security is one of the biggest barriers standing between the enterprise and some of the most disruptive trends in IT. Zettaset made this point rather clear when it launched a security package to go with its Hadoop management cloud, and now VMware is working with Symantec to achieve the same thing in the data center.

All of the above can be said about the cloud as well: companies fear that their data is not protected on completely consolidated, often remote server clusters. The two vendors are tackling this issue head on: a big chunk of Symantec’s security software will be integrated into VMware’s lineup of virtualization solutions.

VMware vShield Endpoint will soon feature components from Symantec’s own end point protection software, and several other offerings will also be updated with the new 3^rd party links. Recovery by the latter company will be offered with vShield, and the Symantec Control Compliance Suit will be plugged into vSphere. Things like policy compliance and event management will be addressed as well, as a part of a very extensive partnership and a rather big initiative in terms of significance on behalf of VMware.

“The unique security concerns of the cloud extend well beyond malware protection,” said Raghu Raghuram, senior vice president and general manager, Cloud Infrastructure and Management, VMware. “The integration of Symantec products with the VMware cloud infrastructure suite will offer fundamentally new security capabilities to accelerate the ability of customers to quickly and safely realize the benefits of cloud computing.”

VMware made a few other partnerships lately. Earlier this month it became the virtualization solutions provider of choice for Peake, a new cloud project kicked off by two of the biggest healthcare giants. It’s developed specifically for the medical industry; another area where managing your data right is critical (no pun intended.) Before that the company entered into reseller agreements with Cisco and Mitel.