VMware’s just-launched operating system for building the internal cloud comes with big promises, but will the virtual-solutions company be able to deliver?
VMware vSphere 4 is designed to bring cloud computing to enterprises in an evolutionary, nondisruptive way that delivers more control, more efficiency, and more customer choice. It taps into the buzz around cloud computing and corporate eagerness for its benefits.
The goals for VMware vSphere 4 are simplifying how computing is delivered and letting CIOs respond more rapidly to changing business requirements. The technology aggregates and holistically manages the infrastructure in a dynamic operating environment with guaranteed service levels.
Transitioning IT Departments
VMware may be on to something. According to Chris Wolf, a senior analyst at the Burton Group, the days of the traditional monolithic operating system are numbered.
“Server platforms are now being purposed-built for virtualized workloads, and many of the roles associated with the traditional OS are transitioning to virtualized internal and external cloud-based infrastructures,” Wolf said.
“Organizations looking to gain the operational and financial benefits of cloud-based IT can do so today by deploying purpose-built cloud infrastructure software that streamlines internal data-center operations while providing a gateway to future external cloud expansion,” he said.
Revolutionizing IT Departments
According to Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, VMware is looking at cloud computing as a wholesale reimagining of the enterprise data center in which virtualization holds the central role in aggregating, integrating, managing and provisioning enormous pools of processor, server, storage and networking assets. That is resonating well so far with major players like Dell, EMC, Hewlett-Packard and Intel.
“If vSphere succeeds to the extent that VMware and others appear to believe, it will provide the driving force behind an evolutionary shift in data centers that could usher in an IT industry renaissance,” King said. “But vSphere 4 is not only about cloud computing. While…