VMworld channel round-up
This year, the focus was clearly on management. Key announcements included two new products and some significant updates to existing products. The new vFabric Application Management Suite includes vFabric AppDirector to automate application deployment within cloud environment using a standardised work-flow. In addition, the new vFabric Application Performance Manager will provide more granular metrics for gauging and scaling performance for vCloud environments.
The firm has also updated its VMware vCenter Operations to provide new dashboards and smart alerts for performance and capacity information as well as advanced troubleshooting elements to identify and fix performance issues caused by configuration changes.
VMware (NYSE:VMW) acquisitions are also starting to take shape within a coherent strategy. Last June the firm bought Digital Fuel and its innovative service management product has now been enhanced and re-branded as the VMware IT Business Management Suite. The software allows data to be aggregated from a range of financial sources and apply analytics and modelling to generate IT capital, operating and service expenses into metrics and reports.
The last “re-badge” and perhaps the most interesting for channel partners trying to break virtualisation into the SMB is VMware vCenter Protect Essentials Plus, which is was formally the Shavlik NetChk Protect. The product is essentially a toolbox that includes asset discovery, configuration, power management, antivirus and endpoint security and more importantly, it can all be executed remotely by the channel partners that are typically charged with looking after SMB infrastructure.
The other Shavlik-acquired product, VMware Go Pro has also been expanded. The SaaS offering, which already performs patch management for physical Microsoft environments, now has deeper support for the virtualised stack. The firm has expanded the granularity of the service so that both customers and managed services firms can automate many of the common tasks by groups and labels. Go Pro has also added an “IT advisor” to help firms optimise the platform and crucially – make it easier to transition to a VMware alternative from existing fixed architecture.
The reason the two Shavlik re-badges are particularly useful to the channel is that they provide a stepping stone to virtualisation for smaller firms that simply dismiss the idea as having no value. A small firm with three servers is unlikely to virtualise as the current burden is relatively small. VMware has banged the drum saying that key features like High availability, disaster recovery and scale are critical to the SMB but many would prefer a more tangible benefit.
GO Pro, and to a lesser extent its IT business Management suite, provides something incredibly useful to the cost-sensitive SMB and also to the channel – especially in the context of remote management by reducing the cost of supporting SMB customers who pay the minimum in service and support charges. Both are priced in line with the Essentials bundle which makes them a relatively easy sell that starts potential customers thinking about the VM story.
This year, VMware finally talked openly about what the SMB market actually is to them. The most interesting fact was that in its parlance, SMB is effectively anything under 1000 seats. In the UK that equates to everybody other than about 6000 companies – a rather broad definition indeed. However, the focus on management at this year’s event gives the channel another bow in the quiver to attack the “midmarket”.
However, even though the firm announced new specialisation tracks for areas like Critical Application, IAAS and Enterprise management, the firm has yet to define any specific channel programmes to help outreach into the SMB. Although in briefings this was said to be on the roadmap, plans seem vague.
