Virtualisation prices soften as competition grows

The day after we have been in the office and you are back to working from home is a big contrast, you go from seeing lots of other people, to working on your own. Now do not get me wrong, working from home is a big plus and it is more environmentally friendly, as before I had up to a 3 hour daily commute, now I go to Hull once a fortnight, and every where else is by train, plane, or a teleconference so no travel involved. Today was going to be a day working on a consultancy project, but that fell through, so I will be reviewing a technology audit.

Vmware – Feeling the heat from Microsoft

As I predicted last year, and have been saying at speaking events for the pat 12 months, this year (2008) will see prices soften in the virtualisation space, especially from Vmware. Because the Hyper-V imminent launch (2nd August is latest date) will see the Microsoft marketing band-wagon push this technology to the SMB sector, which have been put off server virtualisation by the up-front cost of implementing Vmware, or the uncertainty of using open source. However, Citrix acquisition of XenSource, Oracle’s OVM (based on Xen) and Microsoft have changed the game. Vmware is now trying to build its reputation with the SMBs as a ready to use, cost effective solution to deploying added-value from server virtualisation.
Watch this space, as over the next 12 months Vmware will be creating a new position for its self as it differentiates its self from Microsoft in the virtualisation wars of 2009