CrowdStrike and Omnissa enter a strategic partnership that provides real-time threat detection and automated security solutions for virtual and physical desktop environments. By integrating the Omnissa platform, built on VMware’s Horizon and Workspace ONE, with CrowdStrike’s Falcon, customers get a combination of advanced endpoint management and strong cybersecurity.
The solution should provide solid and secure management of hybrid work environments while giving end users enough leeway to use their IT resources day to day without encountering security roadblocks.
The companies offer partially overlapping services, but the integration combines Crowdstrike’s primary offerings of threat detection, prevention, and incident response with Omnissa’s offerings in endpoint management, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), and improving employees’ digital work experience.
The integration allows admins to quickly identify devices without the required Falcon sensor and immediately connect or deny access. CrowdStrike’s AI-native protection is also faster to deploy in VDI sessions. In addition, data on vulnerabilities and threats from the Falcon platform can be leveraged to perform risk analysis and automated security actions with Omnissa’s Workspace ONE UEM (Unified Endpoint Management). This improves cyber resilience in both physical and virtual work environments.
Added value for organizations
According to Daniel Bernard, chief business officer at CrowdStrike, the partnership is an important step in helping organizations better manage and protect their endpoints. “Bringing the Omnissa and CrowdStrike
platforms together ensures the best cybersecurity protection for VDI and UEM deployments”, Bernard said. Bharath Rangarajan, chief product officer at Omnissa, emphasized the strategic value of the collaboration for organizations struggling with the increasing complexity of hybrid workstations and cybersecurity threats.
While the partnership is good news for administrators eager to control all their organizations’ endpoints, there are some concerns surrounding Omnissa. These arose after Broadcom sold its stake in the company in July 2024. Research firm Gartner criticized the lack of ambition in Omnissa’s roadmap and warned of possible price increases similar to those of competitor Citrix earlier this year.
Addressing concerns
Since the Broadcom acquisition, many VMware customers have experienced price increases, a concern that may also apply to Omnissa customers. Perhaps the announced integration should alleviate some concerns about the lack of ambition that analysts believed they saw at the company.
CrowdStrike’s image has also taken a hit. In July of this year, an update to CrowdStrike’s Falcon platform caused a massive outage of Windows systems, temporarily shutting down businesses worldwide. The outage affected thousands of organizations and caused significant economic damage. At a U.S. congressional hearing, the company explained how this could happen and called for continued access to the Windows kernel (which it already has) for optimal security.
Read more: CrowdStrike: deep Windows access needed to prevent cyber attacks