Virtualization now a ‘mature’ technology: VMware expands cloud offerings

It’s been nearly two decades since virtualization solutions first emerged on the market. After realizing the considerable benefits this technology can provide – including reduced complexity and secure access to critical corporate resources – this key IT strategy has been put in place in businesses across a range of industries. Thanks to this boost in adoption, Gartner noted that the virtualization market has finally reached maturity.

In the wake of this exciting news, VMware, a leader in the virtualization market, has announced an expanded partnership with IBM, enabling the delivery of virtualized desktops and applications via the IBM Cloud.

The cloud: The key to virtualization

The cloud currently provides support for a range of essential enterprise IT functions, including access to virtualized environments. As a technology that is codependent on virtualization, the cloud is now more important to critical infrastructure than ever, as reflected in RightScale’s 2016 State of the Cloud Survey:

• On average, today’s cloud users leverage six cloud environments, including both public and private instances.
• Enterprises have shifted more traffic and workloads to the cloud than ever – 17 percent of businesses have over 1,000 VMs in private cloud environments, and 31 percent have surpassed 1,000 VMs in private clouds.

At the same time, virtualization is now increasingly being utilized in the enterprise sector to reduce IT complexity, particularly within the data center. According to a recent Gartner report, the average business has virtualized 75 percent of their data center assets. However, some firms report as high as 90 percent virtualization.

“Gartner analysts believe that the impact of new computing styles and approaches will be increasingly significant for this market,” the research firm noted in its announcement. “This includes OS container-based virtualization and cloud computing.”

VMware-IBM partnership expands

One of the best examples of the cloud and virtualization in action shines through in the newly expanded partnership between VMware and IBM. The technology giants announced in June that the IBM Cloud will now be leveraged to allow VMware Horizon Air customers to access VMware’s desktop and application solutions. The VAR Guy’s Michael Cusanelli reported that this latest development in the 10-year partnership is an effort to enhance anywhere, anytime access to apps and data for corporate users.

“Customers are asking for choice and innovation, while protecting existing IT investments,” said Sanjay Poonen, VMware End-User Computing executive vice president and general manager. “Offering VMware Horizon Air on the IBM Cloud addresses customer demands with an enterprise-grade cloud and services from two proven and trusted companies.”

Cloud technologies provide the backbone for virtualization.

The benefits of partnership: Leveraging experts to address critical IT needs

It’s difficult to argue the advantages of working with several industry-leading technology providers to address corporate IT requirements. iT1 Source believes in this approach, which is why we’ve partnered with VMware and a range of other service providers – including Dell, Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc. – to offer the very best in technology solutions.

Best of all, our expert agents can ensure that you have all the systems needed to position your organization for success, from virtualization and data management to network and connectivity. To find out more, contact iT1 Source today.