Storm Clouds

I’ve also read the virtualization pundits’ predictions year after year. They usually go something like “this year is the year of VDI”, “sixty something percent of all servers can still be virtualized”, and “VMware’s market share will shrink to the advances of Microsoft and Citrix”. Is the record skipping? (does anyone know what a skipping record is anymore?). Personally, I’ve always felt a balanced market of hypervisor vendors would be the most likely prophecy for the datacenter, but VMware has always managed to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. Feature-wise, they continue to do so. But, the recent announcement of licensing changes may have changed things.

Whether right, wrong, misunderstood, reluctant to change, or just emotional, many VMware shops initially viewed the new licensing announcement like dark, thunder clouds approaching. Some reactions were as hot as a flash of lightning. Virtual warning sirens sounded across the community, but after a few days and some damage control from VMware, eventually calmer heads prevailed. But, like in the aftermath of any large storm, people began to build for the future. More so than ever before, public discussion of future plans seem to include a new possibility of alternative vendor virtual datacenters.

An Opening In The Clouds

My hunch is that current VMware shops will 

not jump on the newest version like in the past. They will wait to decide, and while they wait they will explore the alternatives.

Many will decide to stick with VMware. I’m guessing those with environments already right-sized would be least likely to actually switch, for example. I’m sure there will be plenty of others with costs that are favorable to stay where they are, but I am already hearing many proclaim they have decided, been ordered, or are now motivated to actually explore other virtualization solutions.

I do actually believe that many will now move away from VMware, however. I’m not proclaiming any solution is better or my favorite, but instead I am pointing out the market conditions are right for the advance of VMware’s competition. Some may be in the form of wholesale migration, but I also feel a lot will be in the form of maintaining the existing vSphere while expanding future VMs on Hyper-V or XenServer. I’m just being a realist. Features may lead the hypervisor market today, but if history has taught us anything, the total business benefits of any offering has incredible influence on the decision makers who write the checks. As much as the engineer in me hates to admit it, most shops can more than get by with a standard set of virtualization features that exist in all the hypervisor options available today.

Tipping Point

So, are we actually at the start of a significant change in the virtualization market? Time will tell. My point is that recent conditions seem to indicate to me that the time is right, more so than ever before.

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Cloud Power
There is no doubt that the primary message for today and the rest of this week is Microsoft’s private and public cloud offerings, tools, and integration. Whether from a phone, tablet, notebook, or desktop, and of course in the datacenter, Microsoft plans on a future dependent on cloud applications and services.

By the way, Microsoft mentioned that Apple IOS and Android based devices would be supported in the MS cloud. We listened to hints about using System Center via an iPad and Office via a phone, but I did not get an impression that anything actually exists for these devices today. Personally, I’d be happy with IOS or Android Apps for the Office Suite, but we’ll see where this ends up soon enough.

Just like VMware’s messaging, Microsoft spoke for a brief period about the future of server deployments and viirtualization’s impact on server hardware sales and implementation. The gist of this part of the talk was that virtualization leads to more server deployments without significant impact to server hardware sales, and that IT Pros will eventually shift to either higher level functions while their physical infrastructures are no longer as important or even in their own control. This line of speaking has always made the guy in the trenches shutter, but it is a reality of the cloud. SLAs and contract guarentees will soon become the new configuration tweaks for today’s private datacenter admins who migrate to the hybrid cloud of the future.

Cloud Manager

Intelligent Business Applications
Demos of popular office applications back ended by modern SQL highlighted manipulating huge amounts of data into what appeared to be automated reporting that would make any CEO instantly smarter than the competition. Starting with Excel data that somehow transitioned to impressive, easy to digest graphics, charts and graphs, Microsoft seems to have the answer for the modern “TPS Report” as several people tweeted. Of course these reports can easily be uploaded Sharepoint in the cloud to be consumed by all who need to know.

The Average Adult has 4.3 devices
Although Microsoft demoed some never before publicly seen features of the Windows phone, this piece of the Keynote was a little disappointing. Sure it’s great to be able to quickly develop any application for users to do their jobs, and a cloud infrastructure married with a smartphone enables this kind of flexibility, but these announcements really didn’t invoke any gasps from the audience.

Office 365 delivering feature rich document functionality to mobile devices loooks promising however, and I believe they promised availability by the holiday season this year. Also promising is the deep integration with Microsoft Outlook and the ability to (once again) use Sharepoint document repositories in the cloud.

Microsoft definitely seems more focused on business productivity for all mobile devices than making sure everyone can play Angry Birds, but that’s what I would expect!

100,000 Virtual Desktops
Microsoft announced that HSBC will be deploying their entire VDI infrastructure on Hyper-V. Adding to the virtualization load, HSBC will also virtualize their SQL and Shareporint servers. This would make Microsoft the proud owners of the largest VDI deployment in the world. Definitely an impressive win.

Put Your Hands in the Air!
Using the Kinect technology most famous today from Microsoft XBox, the Keynote featured examples of doctors examining X-rays and catscans as well as a demo exploring the universe without using a keyboard and mouse. Being able to manipulate images on the screen by waving your arms is definitely a universal, easily understood interface that even the most computer challenged should be able to comprehend. This was definitely the coolest part of the Keynote for me.

The last piece of the Keynote I witnessed was on Visual Studio and deploying apps to Windows phones. I lost interest quickly, and decided to head over to the exhibition hall to catch Veeam’s announcement.

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