Virtualization.com

News and insights from the vibrant world of virtualization and cloud computing

ManageSoft Integrates Enterprise Compliance Manager into VMWare ESX Server

by Leave a Comment

Boston-based ManageSoft announced today it now supports VMware ESX Server with its Enterprise Compliance Manager software that enables its customers to fill the license compliance chasm created by the virtualization wave. This software provides a path to resolution for companies embracing application and server virtualization, but concerned about software publishers’ licensing policies.

virtualiztion-managesoft-vmware.gif

ManageSoft claims vendors’ application licensing rules have gotten so complex that most enterprise customers can expect to be out of license compliance without an automated tracking system.

“Virtualization of servers and applications has created a large productivity and efficiency leap, but by the same measure has grown into a viral license compliance liability that customers must address,” noted Steve Butler, president and CEO of ManageSoft. “ManageSoft is the cure to get customers back in the driver’s seat for enterprise license compliance.”

Enterprise Compliance Manager’s license tracking now spans all corners of the physical and virtual enterprise from laptops, desktops, to the data center,” added Alan Swahn, ManageSoft’s vice president of marketing and business development. “Proper license entitlement has always been our strength and our competitors’ weakness. We have built an even higher wall by seamlessly handling both physical and virtual systems.”

virtualiztion-managesoft-vmware-screenshot.gif

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Company Index: VMWare

[Source: VMBlog]

 

Tech Data & VMWare Take Their Partnership To A New Level

by Leave a Comment

virtualization-techdata.pngTech Data has announced it will start selling VMWare’s desktop and data center virtualization solutions, in addition to its existing offer including virtualization solutions from Virtual Iron, Parallels, and Citrix’s XenServer (ex-XenSource).

Tech Data previously worked with VMware only through OEM agreements with HP and IBM. As of now, it can separately sell the desktop and data center virtualization solutions including VMware Infrastructure suite, VMware VirtualCenter, VMware Capacity Planner, VMware Lab Manager, VMware Workstation, VMware ACE, VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and VMware Fusion.

Senior VP and General Manager of Tech Data Advanced Infrastructure Solutions Pete Peterson got his first official certification and thus became one of 200 TD employees who can call himself a VMWare Sales Professional (VSP).

virtualization-techdata-vmware-petepeterson.jpg

VMware will fall under Peterson’s Advanced Infrastructure Solutions division. In addition to 200 VSPs, Tech Data also has 10 VMware Certified Professionals (VCP) and hopes to double both numbers in the next 90 days, Peterson said.

“We’re really excited about this new partnership. They’re a $1.3 billion software virtualization company. Clearly, they are the market leader in this space. Virtualization is a huge opportunity for most IT shops today and a focus for our resellers,” Peterson said. “They say 5 percent of all servers globally that have virtualization software on them. Our goal is to make sure when we include it when we initially sell servers, but there’s also a huge install base that we have an opportunity to sell into as well.”

Tech Data joins Avnet, Arrow Electronics, Ingram Micro Inc. and Lifeboat Distribution as VMware distributors in the U.S.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Company Index: VMWare

[Source: ChannelWeb]

Kace Integrates Virtual Systems Management Tool Kbox Into VMWare Infrastructure

by 1 Comment

Kace announced today what it calls the first virtual systems management appliances to run natively within the VMware infrastructure. Kace’s Virtual Kbox appliances offer users a software product that runs on the user’s existing hardware. Earlier versions of the Kbox appliance required the installation of separate hardware to deploy and manage IT resources.

virtualization-kace-kbox.png

The Virtual Kbox appliances family is now shipping and fully supports physical and virtual machines across Windows, Mac, Linux and Solaris environments.

“Unlike a generation of virtual appliances preceding it, the Virtual Kbox family provides a systems management and deployment solution that is fully integrated from a highly optimized and hardened operating system through an easy-to-use, Web-based application,” Rob Meinhardt, cofounder and CEO of Kace, told TechNewsWorld.

virtualiztion-kace-kbox-21.gif

The virtual appliance aims at delivering the benefits of a hardware appliance, including fast deployment times with low costs and ease of use. It also provides the benefits of virtualization, such as improved resource utilization, reduced energy and cost savings, improved maintainability and support and the ability to quickly scale. While the product’s name implies that it is an actual hardware device, it is a software product that runs on the customer’s computer. The virtual appliance product will do all that a physical appliance will do, he said. It provides the full range of features found in physical appliance management devices.

Virtualization is exploding in popularity in many enterprise categories. Organizations are seeking new ways to leverage this technology, also according to Meinhardt. “We’ve seen an incredible ramping up for virtualization. This gave us an opportunity to deliver our Kbox products for virtual appliance management,” said Lubos Parobek, Senior Director of Product Management for Kace.

Kace, which started in 2003, is targeting companies with from 100 to 1 000 employees. It currently has 450 customers worldwide, mostly in the SMB category, according to CEO Rob Meinhardt.”That gives us up to 100 000 companies worldwide as potential users,” he said.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Company Index: VMWare

[Source: TechNewsWorld]

Virtualization Comes In Many Flavors

by Leave a Comment

Interesting article from ‘The Virtual Man’ Daniel Kusnetzky, President and Principal Analyst of Kusnetzky Group LLC and blogger at ZDNet. At a conference, he was asked by a group of attendees what he did for a living, and after a short explanation about his company he went on to explain virtualization technology.

Kusnetzky discussed the typical goals organizations have when they acquire and then deploy various types of virtualization technology, like:

  • Being able to access applications and data from just about anywhere using just about any networkable device
  • Being able to run applications or, in fact, full workloads without being concered about potential incompatibilities steming from different versions of operating systems, development tools or application frameworks
  • Being able to safely and securely access complex organizational networks
  • Being able to access applications and data even if they were stored in a datacenter halfway around the world
  • Being able to process applications faster or support more people’s work than any single reasonably priced system could manage
  • Being able to continue operations even if some component failed

Kusnetzky asks: “If you where put on the spot and asked to explain all of the different layers of technology and all of the different uses of virtualization, what would you say?”

Why don’t you go tell him? 🙂

Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

Sun Aims To Virtualize Web 2.0 Startups. From LAMP to SAMP?

by 1 Comment

Sun MicroSystems aims to equip the next generation of Internet companies (read: Web 2.0 startups) with its hardware and software and will offer virtualization products to help them keep their costs to a minimum, make their data centers more flexible, and give developers multiple target environments.

virtualization-jonathan-schwartz-sun.jpg

“You can see a connection to developing under VirtualBox and moving the software to a server running xVM,” Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz said; “xVM is Sun’s Xen-based hypervisor, due in June. Sun views a virtualized development environment as a way to capture developer loyalty. The company already offers developers incentives to use Java, namely its NetBeans tools and the PHP, Ruby, and Perl scripting languages through the Sun Developer Network. It registered an additional 1 million developers on its network in 2007”, Schwartz said, “and building a relationship with those developers is key to getting more of its software into Web 2.0 companies”.

As Sun is set to acquire open source relational database MySQL, the company seems determined to turn “LAMP” (which stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PPHP / Perl) into “SAMP”, evidently substituting Linux for Solaris in the pet name for every open source developer’s favorite tool set.

Sun also has a special program with custom offerings for startups dubbed Startup Essentials, which it has recently expanded to Canada, France and Germany.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

[Via InformationWeek]

EMC & SAP Heading Into Cloud Computing Together?

by Leave a Comment

According to Reuters, EMC and SAP are about to team up to deliver computer programs over the web. The news company cites a senior executive from German software provider SAP AG, President of SAP Labs North America and member of the SAP Executive Board Doug Merritt, predicting an upcoming partnership whereby the companies will use virtualization technology centralizing computing and storage functions at data centres (‘cloud computing’).

virtualization-sap.png virtualization-emc.jpg

Merritt chose not to discuss specifics, such as the expected launch date for the new venture and the financial details involved. Moreover, EMC, while openly betting hosting software and services will be a key to growth over the coming years, declined to comment on Merritt’s statements. A blog post by Chuck Norris Hollis, an EMC VP, doesn’t shed more light on the potential alliance but hints at the possibility of a partnership.

If EMC eventually enters the web hosting game through its partnership with SAP, it will be entering a market filled with household name competitors like HP, Symantec, Microsoft, Amazon, Google and IBM.

So far EMC has only announced one key services product, namely MozyEnterprise, an upgraded version of automated backup service Mozy that it acquired last year. EMC reportedly said earlier this month it plans to sell Mozy’s services to large corporations, through a recently upgraded EMC infrastructure dubbed ‘Fortress’.

SAP has also been noisy about launching its own flavor of SaaS program BusinessByDesign to combat Salesforce.com. At an announcement in September, SAP said it would look to partner with companies to provide applications and hosting, which it now seems to have found in EMC.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,