Future of IT: Understanding IT virtualization market

OK, this I have to read properly since I do have the "Research Doc" the Butler Group guys wrote:

The IT virtualization market is gaining significant momentum, and so I think it's a safe prediction to say that it will accelerate even faster over the coming years. Indeed, Butler Group believes that there will come a point when virtualised server infrastructure, in particular, becomes the de facto way of deploying new IT infrastructure.

Any booming market is bound to attract the attentions of established vendors, and the IT virtualization market is no different. However, with such a grand prize to be had - i.e. underpinning every other IT system in the enterprise - the battle for virtual supremacy is likely to pitch newcomers against established industry vendors.

I think important things to note are:

• Market to be in hyperdrive till 2010: The market is going to get exceedingly volatile, Richard mentions if Microsoft will be the de facto vendor. Looking at how things are moving, I just don't know what can happen. Maybe VMware will eventually go under the MS umbrella, after its done with the Storage. In the coming years storage, networking and cpu virtualization will become pretty much standardized and commoditized, and then the game will shift to making the applications as intelligent as possible. So you guessed it right, if you are a traditional IT dude or a manager, your game will be up within the next 3 years or so!
  
• Enterprise Class Application Virtualization: There are enough solutions today to do application virtualization, but the REAL money is in the "Enterprise Applications" and Business Intelligence! Look at what Oracle, SAP, IBM and Microsoft are heading for. VMware will soon have to rest its bets on the HPC (High Performance Computing) and Enterprise Apps. Applications that do not scale on x86 servers will be targeted soon.
  
• Mega mergers are yet to come: Oracle, may have been given the green light to go for BEA, after what Icahn pulled out, but the real mergers are yet to come. I am expecting HP to make a move very soon, coming weeks actually, and soon the others will follow. I still think that VMware may have lost good opportunity with BEA, but never mind other opportunities will come.
  
• Versatilists to be in high demand: I am at a total loss today, to help people understand what I am all capable of. I am confronted with typical line managers who just are not allowed to look outside the box. OK , I am nto making any tall claims but I am an enterpreneur, I have founded my own firm (which is on its way of getting a pretty neat Virtual Data Center contract btw, but that I'll annouce when we've signed the contract! ), I am a trainer, I have business sense, I am a self starter, ..and oh yeah, I am also a database guy, and sure I am deep into virtualization..and.. So you see today's "traditional IT mentality" is incapable of comprehending the real value of such professionals. Tomorrow, you will be asking yourselves: "Where can I find these business professionals?". I think this will be a hot topic across MTs and board rooms very soon, if it isn't today. Some firms, however, are taking keen interests in such people, and they are mostly Management Consultancy firms.
• Wake-up call for both newcomers and old-timers: The example of Quest is not the only one, there are many big and small time firms who are currently in a "state-of-flux" and the sooner they get out of it and make that move, the better. Timing is everything, this time!
• Citrix should use the second mover advantage: Citrix must push the XenSource developers to develop a competitive product that can challenge VMware. That way they can earn the cash till MS is ready with its Viridian and would be a year ahead of MS. This is a highly competitive market and Citrix as has to get its dough out of XenSource. If they are not up and running by next June, then it will be increasingly difficult to move in. Virtual Iron, with its new CEO is already workin on a new and better strategy to get more visible in the market.
• Sun and open sauce Virtualization: I think very soon Sun will be bringing in the most reliable and sustainable open source virtualization solution to the market.

I didn't want to take this thing off-tangents or steal Richard's thunder, being long enough in this industry, its just (become) a habit to say something once in a while ;-)

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