Start-up VMware, Citrix Systems Inc.’s XenServer and Microsoft Corp.’s Hyper-V. “This is a something end users are asking for as they deploy more than one solution for server virtualization,” he wrote in an e-mail message.

Dan Kusnetzky, an analyst at Kusnetzky Group, predicted that within five years, Fortisphere and its peers will either be absorbed into larger companies, or those firms will develop software with similar capabilities.

“It’s likely in my view that these people are going to be acquired by the management framework players, because they are doing something different but also complementary,” he said.

Kusnetzky noted, however, that Fortisphere’s tools have a limited focus, aiming on the management and tracking of virtual machines and not other areas of virtualization, such as virtual storage. “If you’re working in the environment they’re targeting, this might be interesting,” he said.