We’re doing a wrap up of VMworld and we want to know what you thought were the hot trends of the conference.
We have a few thoughts of our own, but what do you think were some of the most significant developments that emerged?
Our Pick: Hybrid Clouds
The hybrid cloud has arrived. Is it a more sane alternative to the private cloud? We think so. It looks like a smart move for VMware. It extends its partnerships with cloud services providers like Verizon, BlueLock and Savvis. Plus, it gives customers the benefits of extending to a public cloud infrastructure.The hybrid cloud movement shows how Vmware is evolving. Last year, it was all about managing the data center and establishing a virtualized infrastructure. This year, it was about managing the connections between the data center and public cloud infrastructures.
This theme of a hybrid cloud brings to the surface a lot of question. Is the enterprise going through a deep level of abstraction? It seems to be. You get that sense after hearing many of the vendors discussing the greater need for automation. In our conversations with SpringSource executives, we asked what they thought of the DevOps movement and the emergence of companies such as Puppet Labs and Opscode. These companies are definitely in their scope. These young companies are automating the processes for deploying virtual machines. That’s important as more companies are getting used to the idea of deploying thousands of virtual machines at any one time. These virtual machines may need to be deployed in the data center or a public cloud environment.
Managing the connections is the next big step. It’s why VMware acquired Integrien and TriCipher. Integrien tracks performance in a virtualized infrastructure. TriCipher manages identity issues, critical for the deployment of SaaS services across a hybrid cloud.
Security companies showed up in a big way at VMworld, exemplifying the demand for services required in a virual environment. Computerworld’s Eric Ogren highlighted his top security picks.
He cited TrendMicro for its enhancements to anti-malware and data protection for hybrid clouds. He also pointed to Intel, RSA and Terremark’s use of Intel’s Active Management Technology (AMT) in a real-world environment:
“Shown was the Terremark service provider reaching out through AMT to wake up the endpoint, authenticate the endpoint as a customer device (RSA key management) and validate the compliance of its software configuration. Potentially, the SP could enhance bandwidth utilization by scheduling PC maintenance tasks in off-hours, identify the device as a customer and check SLA terms, download patches or a refreshed VM, and upload regulated data for backup and retention.”
VMworld showed that the public cloud is core to an enterprise strategy. But it’s only part of the equation. Companies will continue to build out their data centers. They will migrate to a hybrid environment as the connection points can be better automated, monitored and secured.
Disclosure: VMware is a sponsor of ReadWriteWeb.
