VMware, the fast-growing software maker that is at the forefront of a revolution sweeping through corporate datacentres, on Monday pulled off its biggest acquisition so far with the announcement of a $362m cash-and-stock purchase of privately held SpringSource.

The deal pushes VMware, which is majority-owned by EMC, deeper into the emerging business of “cloud” computing, which involves developing and running corporate applications in large datacentres and making them available over the internet.