VMware

With Cisco-EMC pairing, what’s up with VMware?

The HP vs. Cisco/EMC/VMware hype fight this week re-emphasized that Cisco and EMC (and its subsidiary VMware) are joined at the hip in their aggressive grab for data center share. 

Recurring rumors have Cisco giving up all pretense at some point (John Chambers: ” Ah heck, let’s just get this over with!”) and buying EMC outright. Continued »

Two developers make the most out of the VMware ecosystem

I’m not at VMworld this week, but it seems like everyone else is, including Microsoft. So it’s not surprising to me that some of the channel news that I’ve come across in the past couple of weeks is very much tied to activity at the conference. This post is about two of the vendors seeking to coat-tail themselves on the success of the VMware channel.

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More tips for selling server virtualization

As customer demand for server virtualization continues to grow, so does competition among vendors and resellers.

Despite all the industry hype about server virtualization, a lot of businesses are just now familiarizing themselves with the technology and available products. The most successful vendors and resellers will be those that can demonstrate the benefits of server virtualization and show how it meets specific business goals.

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Parallels CEO predicts Xen’s death

Before last week, some Citrix partners — and even some high-up Citrix execs — felt the company’s server virtualization efforts were lacking.

The most common complaints were variations of “You spent $500 million on XenSource, and you’re not doing anything with it!” and “This partnership with Microsoft is gonna come back to bite you where the sun don’t shine!”

But with last week’s news that Citrix will give away XenServer and associated features like live migration, the company seemingly reaffirmed its commitment to server virtualization, and most of those complaints seem to have subsided.

I say “most” because at least one person still sees trouble ahead for XenServer. In fact, he predicts its demise. That person is Serguei Beloussov, CEO of Parallels, the virtualization company best known for its technology that runs Windows on Macs:

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Suit says former VMware CEO broke securities law

A law firm with a history of suing public companies has set its sights on former VMware CEO Diane Greene.

Holzer Holzer & Fistel, an Atlanta firm, has filed a class-action lawsuit against Greene and CFO Mark Peek. The suit says the two execs broke the law because they didn’t tell shareholders that VMware was facing increased competition, taking a longer time to close deals and signing more customers to short-term contracts. The firm put out a press release last week seeking a lead plaintiff for the suit.

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Tod Nielsen tapped as VMware COO

VMware snagged Tod Nielsen,  former CEO of Borland, as its new COO.

For a 43 year old, Tod’s been around the block more than a few times. Some remember him as the sacrificial lamb Microsoft sent out to deal with–and try to woo–the notoriously cranky dBase, FoxPro and Paradox database fans when Microsoft decided to enter the PC database fray. Say one thing for Tod, he kept a smile on his face in some pretty tough situations.

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VMware beta features could bring Zune-like embarrassment

VMware isn’t making any new fans with its habit of putting beta features into the final versions of its products.

As you may recall, back in May, virtualization expert Andrew Kutz took VMware to task for hyping Storage VMotion and Virtual Machine High Availability — while at the same time saying they were experimental features that should not be used in production. Now Kutz’s fellow blogger on the Virtualization Pro blog, Eric Siebert, is doing the same.

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Virtualization predictions for 2009

With the end of the year approaching, virtualization pundits are coming out with their predictions for 2009. I won’t be coming out with any of my own — I had to sell my crystal ball to buy a few last-minute Christmas gifts — but here’s a roundup of what the experts say to expect in the next 12 months: Continued »

VMware hires Google exec to head overseas channel

VMware has appointed Maurizio Carli as general manager of its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. In that role, Carli will run the region’s sales, channel, services and marketing programs.

Carli joins VMware from Google, where he was managing director for its enterprise division in EMEA. Virtualization.info’s Alessandro Perilli says Carli will have his work cut out for him at VMware, whose relationship with European channel partners is “not always idyllic.”

Carli’s 20-year career in IT has also included stops at Business Objects and IBM. His hiring by VMware was not this week’s only channel shake-up: F5 Networks channel chief Steve Hale has left the company and been replaced by his predecessor, Dean Darwin, according to The VAR Guy.

VMware announces 2nd annual partner show

VMware is making plans for Partner Exchange 2009.

The company’s second annual partner conference will take place April 14-17 at Walt Disney World in Orlando. Last year’s inaugural Partner Exchange attracted more than 1,000 people to San Diego; it will be interesting to see if the economy leads more VMware partners to stay home next year.