Virtualization is here, and for the near future, it is a trend that we all must contend with.

As Logikworx, we are about as non-virtual as we can possibly be, having just started to bone up on virtualization as a means to reducing our cap-ex for our updated datacenter, and our op-ex with better system utilization within that datacenter.

Naturally, we have been looking into Hyper-V as our virtualization vehicle. However, the current market leader is VMware, both in market share, and in ecosystem development.

VMware creeps into my consciousness
Over the past year, in person and online, I have met quite a few VMware pros who have seemed to be pretty engaged with VMware, the company and its eponymous products.

I have been impressed with the level of engagement, especially since it reminded me of the close-knit NetWare community from the days of yore*. Moreover, the VMware people I know and/or follow have been extremely helpful, from suggestions to pointers. (Another key difference is that these professionals are very normal, and do not have the inflated egos of the Novell ‘Certified NetWare Engineers’.)

As a result of that helpfulness, I started to examine VMware.

Enter Train Signal
I met David Davis, a vExpert and author of the VMware vSphere series for Train Signal Inc., the leading producer of video-based computer training, in Boston earlier this year.

In fact, we have been able to secure a series of Train Signal videos that we have given away from our non-monetary relationship with Train Signal.

Also coming out of that was a series of vSphere training videos authored by David Davis. I gave them to my staff to use as a primer, and based on their feedback, I have decided that VMware merits enough consideration that I authorized a VMware pilot for us today, over the objections of several members of my senior staff, most notably my general manager, Rod Kowalsky.

This decision was hard from a philosophical standpoint, since we are about a 100% Microsoft shop. However, we are not blinded to the fact that there are other ways to get there – wherever there is – from here.

The Logikworx VMware Pilot
This is not going to be a cakewalk for VMware.

For this pilot, apart from the training and acquisition expenses for VMware, I expect costs to be in line with Hyper-V. Concurrent with this VMware pilot, we are going to use the same identical data and hardware for one of our Hyper-V pilot programs. I want to see which product of these fits our needs or those of our clients better. Could be one or the other, or both.

We will keep you informed.

I would like to thank Train Signal in general and David M. Davis in particular, for the massive assist they have rendered in getting us here.

Hopefully, that analogous resemblance to NetWare is just that, and not a portend of a very insular culture, one that would desperately cling to vestiges of all things VMware in order to maintain margins while unable to see any oncoming onslaught.

That though, is a topic for another day.