Blade Watch

Reuters

BOSTON (Reuters) – Virtualization software VMware Inc is slashing prices to ward off increasing competition from billionaire Larry Ellison’s aggressive technology giant Oracle Corp.

VMware said on Tuesday it will give 40-percent discounts to existing users of Virtual Iron, a software product that Oracle recently acquired. The three-month promotion includes 10-percent discounts on support contracts.

The company, which is majority-owned by EMC Corp, is offering the promotion as competition heats up in the multibillion-dollar business of selling virtualization programs, which boost the efficiency of computer servers.

While VMware controls an estimated 80 to 85 percent of that market, analysts say that No. 2 player Microsoft Corp could gain share when it upgrades its rival product within the next three weeks.

Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger declined to comment on VMware’s discount program.

Virtualization software allows businesses to run multiple “virtual” machines on a single server, saving money on hardware, electricity, maintenance and real estate. Sales of such software have outperformed other types of computer programs over the past several years.

I’m hesitant to say that virtualization is a commodity, but we’re kind of moving to the next stage. There are more vendors bringing their version of virtualization online, as we do this, vendors in the space need to innovate, improve their offering in line with business needs and address pricing, the concept of never standing still.

That said in terms of system management, accountability and reporting as well as reliability/disaster recovery/failover might be areas of interest.

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