Businessweek

1000 enterprise customers. In 2012, the company’s customers included Arrow Electronics, Inc. and Tech Data Corporation. Sales and Marketing The company derives a majority of its sales from its indirect sales channel, which includes distributors, resellers, system vendors, and systems integrators. The remainder of its sales is primarily derived from its direct sales force. In addition, its channel partner network includes certain systems integrators and resellers trained and certified to deliver consulting services and solutions utilizing VMware products. Strategy The company’s strategy, focused on the software-defined data center, hybrid cloud computing, and client management capabilities for the post-PC era, provides customers a suite of software to address the integration, automation, and management capabilities they need. The company’s End-User Computing strategy addresses the needs of corporate IT by enabling IT organizations to deliver an environment with high-quality service, improved availability and scalable performance while leveraging both legacy and cloud architectures. Research and Development The company’s research and development expenses totaled $999.2 million in 2012. Intellectual Property As of December 31, 2012, approximately 300 patents issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office have been granted or assigned to the company. It also has been granted or assigned patents from other countries. The granted United States patents would expire beginning in 2018 with the last patent expiring in 2031. The company has federal trademark registrations in the United States for VMWARE, VMWORLD, VMWARE FUSION, VSPHERE, VMWARE VCLOUD, VMWARE VIEW, VMOTION, ZIMBRA, and various other trademarks. Competition The company’s primary competitors include Microsoft Corporation and Citrix Systems. Significant Events In February 2013, VCE and VMware, Inc. announced an expanded development partnership that will allow Vblock customers to experience seamless integration between VMware’s portfolio of Cloud Management Solutions and VCE’s Vblock Systems. In March 2013, Dell Inc. has joined forces with Red Hat, Inc., Intel Corporation and VMware, Inc. to open a dedicated center where hospitals can test and deploy a new option for running Epic Systems' electronic health records (EHR) software on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. In April 2013, Canonical and VMware, Inc. announced a collaboration that would enable organizations to deploy VMware technologies, including VMware vSphere and Nicira NVP, with Canonical’s OpenStack distribution. History VMware, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in 1998.