SINGAPORE, 15 SEPTEMBER 2008 -- Software giant Microsoft is set for a showdown with virtualisation supplier VMware, according to Timothy Stammers, senior analyst at consulting firm, Ovum.
Stammers’ comment came in response to Microsoft’s recent day-long event to promote its virtualisation products, which came only days before VMware’s annual user conference.
At the event, Microsoft announced that it would release its Hyper-V Server virtualisation hypervisor and management software within the next few weeks. The vendor has also kicked off a global marketing campaign for its suite of virtualisation products, which is expected to cover 58 countries in the next six months.
“VMware is currently the dominant supplier in a still only nascent server and desktop virtualisation market,” Stammers said. “Microsoft clearly intends to use all of its massive marketing muscle in its attempt to gain control of this critical market.”
Turning up competitive heat
Stammers said that Microsoft’s virtualisation commitments span desktop applications and servers. “In August, Microsoft cut the cost of running virtual Windows servers, and recently released version 4.5 of its Application Virtualisation software for desktops, alongside other v-word related updates.”
According to Stammers, Microsoft predicts that demand for desktop virtualisation will increase over time. “But for now, the much bigger demand is for server virtualisation.”
“Microsoft’s decision to make its hypervisor free became inevitable when VMware made the identical move in July, essentially completing the commoditisation of hypervisors,” Stammers said. “Competition between v-word suppliers will instead be on price and functionality of tools needed to get the most from virtualised servers and desktops.”
Competition between Microsoft and VMware has heated up, with Microsoft claiming that its System Center Virtual Machine Manager offering costs much less than the equivalent VMware software, Stammers said.
VMware hits back
In response, VMware contended that its more mature and customer-tested software offered better value for money than that of Microsoft, Stammers said.
Stammers noted that Microsoft’s pricing reflected its entry into the server virtualisation market with low end offerings, presenting VMware with “much less competition” at the high end.
“But following Microsoft’s usual pattern, it will close the functionality gap,” Stammers said. “The longer it takes to do that, the more time VMware will have to develop a secure market position.”
Currently, Microsoft’s virtualisation software cannot move virtual machines from one physical host to another while they are running, unlike that of VMware, according to the senior analyst.
Stammers said that Microsoft presented server virtualisation as the crucial factor driving the emergence of software-as-a-service (SaaS), cloud or online service providers. “That might be stretching a point, as Microsoft did not explain how SaaS companies like Salesforce.com created sizeable businesses before the emergence of open systems server virtualisation.”
“Microsoft sometimes acts as if a market does not exist until Microsoft itself enters it,” Stammers said. “But for the server virtualisation market, its entry will certainly accelerate uptake of the technology, and marks the beginning of a ‘virtual’ war that has been a long time coming.”
