HP Angles for End-to-End Lock on Virtualization - Page 2

According to Mann, the slowness in virtualization deployment may be partly because it is difficult to deploy virtualization for server rebalancing, backup and disaster recovery, and for other complex applications. It's also partly because there is a lack of appropriate management tools, he said.

Some companies, like Tripwire and Embotics, already offer such tools, but more are needed, Mann said.

Virtual labs and desktops help cut costs

The integration of HP Quality Center 10.0 with Surgient's platform will let software developers and quality assurance staff create, manage and tear down virtual lab environments. This will be a real winner for the enterprise because it has a quick payback, helps to slash costs and will drive top line revenue for users, Mann said.

"Normally, you spend hours building a test system, run your tests, then when you find bugs and do [quality assurance,] you have to destroy the system and rebuild it to run tests after the first set of bugs has been fixed," Mann said. "Lab management software lets you automate that process, and you get new application developments and application upgrades done much faster and cheaper and get products to market earlier."

HP's announcement on Monday of its Virtual Essentials also aims to cash in on client virtualization environments, such as server-based computing, the HP Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), HP Blade PCs or HP Blade Workstations, and streaming clients.

As with other areas of virtualization, virtual desktops are seen as a way that enterprises can save significant amounts of money.

"With virtual desktops, the amount of money large organizations spend on professionals to install software or do upgrades and go to the client site to do management and maintenance all goes away," he said.

EMA's Mann said HP's extension of virtualization to the desktop is not only a logical move for the company, but will also help it push into a very quickly growing market.

"HP is very strong in the desktop, desktop management and thin clients, has very strong existing markets for these and ... has the capability for server-based computing and capabilities to manage provisioning and configuration to the desktop," he said. "So, the idea of adding virtual delivery of the desktop is very logical for them and they have every opportunity to do it and do it well."

HP's competition here will be Citrix Systems (NASDAQ: CTXS), with its XenApp and Xen Desktop, Quest, Microsoft and VMware, which offers VDI and recently enhanced it by launching VMware View 3, which enables enterprises to centralize and host their desktops in the datacenter.

Still, by aiming to capture some of the demand for virtualized desktops, HP may still find itself with a huge hit on its hands, Mann said. "The general growth rate is 20 percent a year for virtualization, but desktop and application virtualization is growing upwards of 25 to 26 percent," he said.

"They are starting from a very low baseline, so the rate is deceptive," he added. "But it's proof of a very strong market opportunity."

Update clarifies HP's competitors to include Quest.