AppSense: We Could Be The Next VMware

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Virtualization specialist AppSense may not be as well known as VMware (VMW), but the Goldman Sachs (GS)-backed company says it could become equally successful.

"Could we be the next VMware (VMW)? The next Citrix (CTXS)? Absolutely, we believe we could," said AppSense CEO Darron Antill in an interview with The Street. "Our ambition is to remain independent and be a leading independent software company of the decade in the user virtualization space."

This may seem like a bold claim, but AppSense has already garnered plenty of positive attention. Last year, the company received $70 million from Goldman Sachs (GS) -- Goldman's largest technology investment other than Facebook (Facebook), which raised $450 million from the bank.

"Someone told me they [Goldman Sachs] only invested in number ones, and I think they're absolutely right," said Antill.

The CEO said that while the likes of VMware, Microsoft (MSFT) and Citrix virtualize servers, applications and desktops, AppSense is taking a new approach to virtualization.

"AppSense classically hasn't fitted into any of the other existing software infrastructure categories," explained the CEO. "We have spent the last three or four years developing this whole 'user virtualization' category."

According to the executive, AppSense's software lets users securely access content, applications and data, both personal and corporate, across devices such as desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. "The BYOD initiatives going on in the enterprise are also opening up a whole new opportunity for AppSense," he added.

BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device, refers to the growing trend of employees deploying corporate apps and content on their own personal gadgets such as smartphones and tablets.

AppSense has already earned an impressive reputation helping businesses get their arms around their Microsoft Windows infrastructures, according to Rachel Chalmers, vice president at 451 Research.

"AppSense gives companies a way to control costs around managing desktops," she explained. "I have liked the company for a long time - they have defined the market for user virtualization."

Set against this backdop, AppSense has grown its business 40% to 50% year-on-year for the last four years, generating cash and profits since day one. "We're growing fast because there's demand for our products," said Antill. "We've built out our proposition; therefore we've got more technology to sell to our existing clients and new clients and we've globalized."

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