Day One I am here in San Francisco for the 1st day of the VMworld conference (its 9th annual event) and there are already significant announcements being made. vCloud Suite 5.1 has been enhanced with some key offerings for SMBs, and new services and IP to help customers move to the cloud.
At the heart of the vCloud Suite is a set of products that apply the virtualization principles of abstraction, pooling and automation to the domains of storage, networking, security and availability in a bundled package for the cloud era:
· More than 100 new and improved features for all apps, support for VMs with up to 64 virtual CPUs, enhancements to the VMware vSphere Distributed Switch and vSphere vMotion to enable live migration of VMs without the need for shared storage · Simplified and automated management with VMware vCloud Director 5.1, vCloud Connector, vCenter Operations Management Suite and vFabric Application Director · Redefined VMware vCloud Networking and Security 5.1 (VXLAN protocol + vShield Edge) · Automated disaster recovery for all applications with VMware vSphere Data Protection, vCenter Site Recovery Manager 5.1 · Two enhanced SMB editions that bring advanced features to small businesses: Improved vSphere 5.1 Essentials Plus and vSphere 5.1 Standard with Operations Management. · Cloud Ops Intellectual Property (IP) and advisory services: to help organizations navigate through building, running and optimizing public and private cloud environments.
VMware is really making a concerted push into every aspect of cloud, and furthermore, they aren't leaving out any particular market segment, SMB in particular. I'll be meeting with some MSPs shortly to get their impressions on this first day. Stay tuned...
Day Two So, after having walked the expo floor and talked to a number of MSPs in attendance, my view is that VMware has created a diverse and powerful community of technology partners who are all contributing to this thing we call cloud. And make no mistake, cloud is everywhere here at VMworld.
What is also unmistakable is a noticeable lack of manage services or channel knowledge here. I have spoken to a number of MSPs who are here to learn about virtualization and cloud, but the technology vendors are not clearly articulating any meaningful channel strategy. This could be why managed service providers are so cautious when it comes to cloud; they just don't know whom to trust.
It could be argued that cloud has erased many of the previously established channel rules and guidelines that used to exist. It can be a dangerous place in the channel these days, especially when dealing with cloud.
The technology here is amazing, and clearly the community is focused on advancing the cloud computing cause. The question is whether MSPs will hear the call or forge their own path to cloud. Only time will tell.
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