It´s been a big week for virtualization. Microsoft has made Hyper-V broadly available, while rival disties Arrow and Avnet both launched virtualization initiatives earlier this week to help solution providers start or improve their offerings.
There appears to be some logic behind the timing of these announcements. Everyone´s been talking a lot about virtualization, but it´s still an immature market – most estimations give it a 10 per cent saturation rate. There´s a lot of hype, a lot of confusion and, of course, a lot of opportunity.For a long time now, VMware has enjoyed a big portion of the virtualization pie. Now, Microsoft is pitting itself against VMware, and things are about to get interesting. While most agree that VMware has a solid offering, with sophisticated management tools, there´s no doubt Microsoft´s formal entrance into this market will have an impact.
So where do the disties come in? Arrow´s program is specifically aimed at Network Appliance solution providers, and offers everything from sales materials, to onsite sales and technical training, to sales coaching and marketing support. Solution providers can also earn certification to resell virtualization software for NetApp environments, such as VMware, and will have access to more than 75 complementary hardware, software and storage products.
As far as Avnet is concerned, the distie is now a VMware Authorized Training Centre, so it can train solution providers to become VMware Certified Professionals. It´s also been named a gold-level VMware authorized consultant.
So VMware isn´t resting on its laurels as Microsoft gets in on the virtualization game – instead, it´s aligining itself with specialty distributors.
Microsoft has just made Hyper-V, its hypervisor-based virtualization software, broadly available. A beta was included with Windows Server 2008 when it launched last month, but this latest release provides the near-final code. Customers and partners can download the release from Microsoft´s Web site.
According to Microsoft, virtualization has become too complicated and expensive for most organizations, which is why less than 10 per cent of servers are virtualized today. And it´s looking to spread the benefits of virtualization.
No doubt Microsoft and VMware are going to be fierce competitors in the virtualization space, and some VARs may be wondering which company to align themselves with. But the reality is the market is still immature, and it´s hard to make predictions about the future – and not always wise.
Resellers can take advantage of the programs that distributors are offering to educate themselves about this market – especially since it´s complex, and can refer to everything from server to storage to desktop virtualization. That´s the first step to making educated decisions – and not guesses – about a potential new revenue stream.