IBM
Opens Up Virtualization
By Jim Balderston
IBM announced this week
that it is forwarding a new effort to create common standards and protocols
concerning virtualization technology as it introduces IBM
Virtualization Engine 2.0.IBM has pledged to
work with various standards bodies as it moves forward, and indicated that it
hopes to attract support from various IT vendors offering virtualization
products. Presently, IBM’s proposed plan for
open virtualization development has been endorsed by Cisco; VMware,
a division of EMC; and Network Appliance;
all IBM partners. Virtualization Engine 2.0
offers a number of new features, including the ability to take inventory of
existing IT assets and resources, the ability to deploy virtualized servers,
and improved integration with IBM systems
management tools.
Virtualization Engine 2.0 is designed to promote the idea of
virtualization virtually everywhere — as it were — from servers to storage and
throughout the enterprise. By easing the deployment of virtualized
environments, IBM is attempting to remove
impediments to the adoption of virtualization technology, which in itself can
provide huge savings not only by consolidating server environments but also by
improving utilization rates of existing assets. Such capabilities are of value
up and down the food chain, from the largest enterprises to SMBs.
By promoting an open and standards-based virtualization
strategy, IBM is hoping to accelerate the
adoption of a technology that we believe is an inevitable and key element of IT
environments of all sizes and shapes. Maybe not today, but
certainly someday, and someday soon. By pushing an open, standards-based
approach to the development of virtualization technologies, IBM
believes it will speed not only development of these offerings but their
deployments as well. IBM is pursuing a well
tested strategy that has borne substantial fruit in the past. Essentially it is
betting that by helping every vendor’s virtualization technology play nice with
every other vendor’s, the pie of virtualization
revenues and opportunities will be orders of magnitude larger than if every
vendor attempts to go its own way. IBM must
feel fairly strongly on this point, with its ability to offer several layers of
virtualization presently, and in a commanding market position as a result. We
agree with IBM’s strategic vision in this
regard, the company betting that a smaller percentage of a larger market
opportunity will be substantially more valuable than a larger percentage in a
much smaller market.
Proof of Purchase Required: Windows
Genuine Advantage
By Clay Ryder
It was reported earlier this week that Microsoft has fully
launched its Windows Genuine Advantage Program (WGA),
part of the company’s ongoing anti-piracy initiative. Users will no longer be
able to download and install updates to copies of Windows XP that do not pass
an authenticity test, i.e., systems that have not downloaded the WGA
authentication software or that fail the WGA
authentication. Although users will no longer be able to download updates from
the Microsoft Download Centre or Windows Update, nevertheless Microsoft has
indicated that security patches will still be available for non-authenticated
users through Windows Automatic Updates. The company indicated that it would
replace pirated software with genuine versions for free to those who submit
piracy reports along with proof of purchase, and for a fee to those who submit
piracy reports but do not have any proof of purchase.
The temptation for some will undoubtedly involve instigating
another round of Redmond-bashing on some flaky ground that the company is being
arrogant to its users, its software is buggy and problem ridden, or that the
future is open source anyway and software should be universally distributed,
and free. Although we expect to see mutterings of this sort, we think they are
as substantive as a cream puff. To us, Microsoft is well within its rights to
introduce WGA, and in fact we would argue
that this is long overdue. Many may fixate on the hassle factor; however, it is
minimal for anyone who is playing fair: a couple of minutes once, to ensure
that their copy is legit, and to gain access to valuable updates and fixes. It
is true that Windows is the victim of more hacks, has more bugs, and is
generally the platform of choice for nefarious activity. However, we do not
hold the Redmond Giants completely to blame for this. Yes, buggy code is bad
news, but this is the reality of any software developed by human beings. Given
the worldwide scale of Windows use and myriad hardware and software
combinations that Windows supports, we would hasten to add that the fact it
does as well as it does is testimony to the overall quality of the product.
Quit whining, Mr. Penguin; when you have the user base and breadth of support
of Gates and Company, then we will compare how well you are really doing.
OK, enough of that. To us it is simple. WGA
is good for the company, good for its customers, and frankly good for the
market overall. MS gets to protect its intellectual property and copyright, customers
get genuine copies of software which are far less likely to be filled with
backdoor spyware and viruses, and the marketplace has the stability of a known
code base. It remains amazing to us that people are willing to pay hundreds if
not thousands of dollars for computing hardware without blinking an eye, but
complain about paying $100 for the operating system. While few would argue it
is OK to steal the hardware, to many the thought of copying or pirating the
software is acceptable. To us it simply does not follow and we offer the
simple, if not blunt advice: If you use Windows, regardless of your perception
of its shortcomings, pay for it and be glad that WGA
will force others to do so. If Windows is the anti-Christ of computing, then
don’t use it and don’t pay for it, and frankly we think this would be just fine
with the folks up North.
IBM
Sharpens Its Blade Initiative
By Joyce Tompsett Becknell
IBM added to its list of
community initiatives this week with the announced intention to build a
community around the BladeCenter product, called blade.org. According to IBM,
the organization is aimed at spurring development and innovation around blade
technology, and will enable BladeCenter ecosystem partners to test and
interoperate their products on BladeCenter. IBM
hopes to drive the development of the community and innovations in
Voice-over-IP, industry-specific solutions, security, and other technologies. IBM
has reserved blade.org as the future Web site for a solution community that
will facilitate the expansion of solutions based upon the BladeCenter
specifications. Among the initiatives IBM is
pursuing in conjunction with this announcement is the establishment of an IBM
BladeCenter Partner Solutions Interoperability Lab and new BladeCenter test
tools for partners in addition to the existing support center they already
have.
The announcement is somewhat confusing because in fact the
community initiative is being launched almost a year after the specification
for the BladeCenter was first released by IBM
and Intel. At this point, IBM says there are
more than 260 companies with the BladeCenter specification, and more than 350
technology and solution partners in the BladeCenter Alliance Program. The
current announcement seems to be hiding the significance of IBM’s
intent beneath a wash of PR hyperbole which runs the risk of diminishing the
importance of the intent by losing it in the accompanying froth. The fact is
that a de facto community has already sprung up around the BladeCenter product.
As IBM was able to capture significant
market share with the product in conjunction with an open specification, many
storage and network companies created a blade version of their product for the
BladeCenter. The fact that not all current partners are members of the new
community seems to be a question of timing rather than an implication of who
will or will not join the newly formed organization. What we believe to be more
significant is the fact that IBM has
formally recognized the existence of this growing community and declared its
intent to nurture it and do all it can to accelerate its growth. Marketing
excitement aside, this is good news.
IBM is one of the vendors
at the leading edge of figuring out how to work with the open community, and
how to make “industry standard” mean something that can drive innovation rather
than referring to the results of standards bodies or de facto leaders through
dominant market share. IBM is acknowledging
the importance of the blade as an important architecture, and it is trying to
build a community that lets partners take advantage of communal standards so
that they can drive their focus on innovation where it matters. IBM
has participated in the Linux community for years, and its Power.org
initiative, launched at the end of 2004, is another example of the company’s
attempt to use its market leadership to help build foundations for future
innovation, cleverly giving IBM a starring
role in future events but also making sure that innovation can be best
leveraged from smaller players who are often caught between conflicting
candidates for standard as they develop their products. We’re not sure how many
of these communities are needed, or who the other vendors are that have enough
credibility to lead the charge, but we believe that fundamentally the industry
is turning toward collaboration as a more efficient way to grow. The real test
of blade.org of course is to see if a Dell, or Fujitsu
Siemens would be tempted to design a blade to fit this standard. Certainly
regional players such as those in China or other developing markets might find
it valuable to ride IBM’s coattails and make
their systems even more attractive to users. The ultimate discussion is not
whether it makes sense for the community to exist, but where the community will
chose to go and how much guidance IBM will
inject into that process versus letting the partners have the steering wheel.
