07.12.09
Gartner Group Pretends Only Microsoft Competes with VMware, Novell Helps Microsoft Too
Summary: Novell sidles with Microsoft’s end of the spectrum and Gartner promotes Hyper-V by comparing VMware to Novell
MICROSOFT HAS ALREADY used up most of its ‘puppets’ in order to attack VMware and advance Hyper-V. It used the Burton Group, which needed to be asked for an apology in some other circumstances. It also used the Yankee Group, which was soon forced to pull what seemed like a result of the usual fraudulent study methodologies [1, 2]. Then there was IDC versus VMware. The only pro-Microsoft analyst which has been conspicuously absent from this slog was the Gartner Group [1, 2]… until now. It is now Gartner’s turn to take shots at VMware. Gartner’s David Cappuccio published this article in the Indian press and his own turf. Characteristically enough, he too is totally ignoring anyone but Microsoft, pretending it is just Microsoft’s game. It is a familiar pattern of promotion through deception.
Matt Asay falls into this trap and spreads the word further in a blog about “open source”.
Could VMware be the next Novell? That’s the question Gartner managing vice president and chief of research for Infrastructure David Cappuccio asks in a provocative post, one that bears further discussion. While VMware is at the top of its game, there are several historical analogs between VMware and Novell.
A Citrix veteran pushed out there not one but two articles that give magnitude to this Microsoft promotion from Gartner:
First: “Gartner Wonders; Will VMware become the next Novell?”
Back in the early 1990’s Novel owned the local area network market – they were as dominant as VMware is today with well over 90% of the market and had an incredibly loyal following (I can attest to this having attended multiple Brainshare events with 10,000+ attendees – and I have the t-shirts to prove it).
Second: “Is VMware More Like Novell or Oracle?”
Unlike Noorda’s Novell, VMware’s CEO, COO and Executive VP all come from high-level positions at Microsoft. They understand the Microsoft culture, strengths and threat. VMware is a company with a laser beam focus on virtualization that is undistracted by a personal vendetta.
They are giving Microsoft credit (only Microsoft), not to KVM, for example, despite the fact that it runs/will run on many Red Hat (and generally GNU/Linux) servers out there.
And then there is Citrix, which is all about Windows and Microsoft. Yes, it truly shows. From The Register:
It will launch a freebie version of its Citrix Essentials virtualisation tool set that works in conjunction with Microsoft’s Hyper-V hypervisor for Windows Server 2008.
This whole article shows the bias at Citrix (just Hyper-V/Xen and Microsoft/Novell). Linux is hardly a consideration after Citrix hijacked Xen. The Linux Foundation appears to have noticed that too. In another article from the The Register, it is shown that Novell chooses to help Microsoft and its semi-subsidiary Citrix. Novell will not help KVM, which competes directly with Microsoft, the Microsoft-influenced Citrix, and the Microsoft-dominated VMware (after Tucci’s aggressive transitioning).
SUSE Linux 11 has a technology preview of Red Hat’s alternative KVM hypervisor, but Novell is still pretty cool to it, having made big investments in Xen. “We don’t see an ecosystem developing around KVM yet,” says Steinman dismissively. But when Red Hat gets its freestanding version of KVM, called Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization, or RHEV for short, out of beta and into production later this year, Novell will have to make up its mind what to do. Red Hat already has, and Xen is not its future.
Novell finds itself stuck with Microsoft. It is obliged to keep Microsoft happy in order to receive those cash infusions, without which it probably could not survive. █
JohnD said,
July 12, 2009 at 9:28 am
You completely misread the Gartner article. You might want to go back and give it another look.
In point of fact he’s not promoting Microsoft, he’s actually comparing what M$ did to Netware in the 90’s to what MIGHT happen with VMWare now. He’s questioning if M$ bundling of hyper V will knock out VMWare.
This is an article you should be promoting.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
July 12th, 2009 at 9:35 am
The comparison shrewdly insinuates that VMware cannot withstand competition and that VMware’s only competition is Microsoft.
JohnD said,
July 12, 2009 at 9:50 am
1. He never once states that VMWare can not withstand competition.
2. He states this:
“During the conversation he was completely dismissing the potential impact of Microsoft (or anyone else) on future virtualization markets..”
So he does acknowledge other players, but the person he was speaking to was an acknowledged VMWare fan – so it’s only logical to focus on VMWare and not the other products.
In fact he points out that VMWare is the market leader with a strong following. The same way Netware was in the 90’s. The point the author is trying to raise is this:
Will M$ be able to undermine VMWare the same way the undermined Netware – by bundling virtualization software with their server and desktop OS’.
This is a veiled attack against M$ anticompetitive behavior – not against FOSS or KVM.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
July 12th, 2009 at 10:22 am
I read it differently. It makes for fear, uncertainty and doubt.
Yuhong Bao said,
July 12, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Even LGP is frustrated at IDC.
From , an interview with LGP:
“It doesn’t help that we’ve had consistent issues with sales numbers being low for the game sales and things like IDC reports showing us “breaking the 1 percent mark” in the marketplace.”
“The Linux game market is larger than the IDC figures would lead you to believe. “
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
July 12th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Of course it is. Watch Ballmer’s presentation.
Yuhong Bao Reply:
July 14th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Well, IMO on the consumer side Macs are more of a threat, while on the business side Linux is more of a threat. But I just want to point out LGP as another victim of IDC’s market share numbers.
JohnD said,
July 12, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I’m curious as to other people’s thoughts on the article, anyone else want to chime in?