virtualization
VMware’s acquisition of SpringSource could prove to be a brilliant offensive move—assuming the firm demonstrates its value to the marketplace and current customers. The challenge is that SpringSource is not a feature you just turn on with a license key, nor is it something that the majority of VMware customers will see value in today. VMware customers are primarily IT operations-driven and SpringSource is application development-driven. Maybe VMware and SpringSource can actually get the two parties to sit down in the same room and meet each other for the first time. That’d be a win in itself. If VMware didn’t make the move to acquire SpringSource, it almost seemed certain that Sun/Oracle or IBM would have been the consumer. Microsoft also cannot be ignored with its Azure platform for .NET developers. Now, VMware has the potential to become more application-centric and help guide customers with future application decisions. That’s ultimately where the money is spent and what drives IT infrastructure decisions. As businesses transition along the data center evolution curve, they take two views: One is in the rearview mirror, looking at current applications and servers and finding ways to virtualize them—this is where VMware currently dominates. The other is looking out the windshield ahead, examining existing and new applications, determining how to leverage a highly virtualized dynamic data center, and deciding what platform to develop upon to get the greatest flexibility and choice at the optimum cost—this is where SpringSource plugs in. Now, VMware/SpringSource can deliver the value of virtualization technology while demonstrating the value of an application platform as businesses transform their data centers into highly dynamic environments where change is embraced.
