VMware Shows a Way Forward

Now that VMworld is over, it is time to digest everything we learned: to pick at the messaging for the kernel of truths and directions. Many found the VMworld keynotes to be somewhat bland and the show floor to be much of the same. However, there was gold within both. We can discuss the show floor later, …

Make vSphere Free. Can VMware Sell Only Support?

Last month, I suggested that VMware could help itself and its customers by opening up. How about if it transformed completely? Could VMware survive if vSphere were free and it only charged for support? What if VMware embraced the idea that hypervisors are a commodity and focused on revenue from management and automation products? What if vSphere didn’t …

Hoping for a More Open VMware

One of the things we associate with existing IT infrastructure vendors is their determination to go it alone for a major portion of their businesses. Vendor each believe that their solution is the best. They feel that integrating with competing solutions is unnecessary. Oracle and Microsoft were the most well-known examples, happily attracting users with a locked-in …

VMware Log Insight Just Became a Whole Lot Free-er

Early last week, VMware made its vRealize Log Insight product available in a free limited form. The short version is that every copy of vCenter (full fat, not just essentials, as far as I can see) gets twenty-five restricted licenses of Log Insight now, rolled out through the usual software channels. This is an automatic upgrade, and …

The Changing of the Guard at VMware

Over the last couple of months, there seems to have been a brain drain at VMware; executives are leaving in swarms. (Is that the collective noun for a group of execs? I don’t know.) The past month has seen the departure of Jonathan Chadwick, the highly respected chief finance officer; Martin Casado, the general manager of …

A New Partnership between IBM and VMware

A new partnership between IBM and VMware was announced in Las Vegas at IBM’s annual InterConnect cloud and mobile technology conference. This partnership will present the IBM cloud as the showcase platform in the VMware vCloud Air Network ecosystem. This is one specific area in the cloud space where VMware has the ability to really shine. …