VMware Global Alliances Blog

Posted by Frances Fortanely
Americas HP Alliance
Marketing

Join your colleagues at the VMware booth #406 at HP Discover in Las Vegas on June 4th - 7th, to listen and learn how VMware and HP are working together to accelerate your pathway to cloud computing and better business results. VMware experts will be on hand throughout the week to present a variety of topics beneficial to companies of all sizes. Check out the schedule below!

Also, have a look at the VMware speaking session schedule that was mentioned in a previous blog post. If you attend at least three sessions, you will be entered to win an iPad. Visit the VMware booth for more details.

Posted by Jay Workman
HP Alliance Marketing
Director

HP Discover 2012 is just around the corner and as a major sponsor, VMware, will be showcasing our breath of solutions with HP. Las Vegas the week of June 4^th will definitely be the place to be if you want to learn how virtualization and cloud computing solutions from VMware running on HP Converged Infrastructure can take your business to the next level.

Make plans to visit the VMware booth (#406) to learn how you can securely manage your cloud, virtualize your business critical applications, enable secure access for remote workers from virtually any device, save ongoing OpEx with Hybrid Clouds and much more! You’ll also be able to sit in on various booth theater presentations and we’ll have VMware experts on-hand to answer your questions about our joint solutions with HP! Sit in on any three of the VMware business or technical sessions listed below and you’ll be entered into a drawing for one of three new Apple iPad’s to be given away at the show. Details are in your conference attendee bag or available at the VMware booth!

VMware Sessions:

Follow @VMwareEvents on Twitter to receive news and information live from the show floor. We look forward to seeing you at HP Discover 2012 in June!

Posted by Calvin Zito
Social Media Strategist,
HP Storage

We all know about all the great benefits provided by VMware server virtualization. Most people who have implemented vSphere know about some of the storage challenges that you really have to pay attention to when architecting your infrastructure. 

Challenges, we don’t need no stinkin’ challenges!

Eric Siebert, my fellow vExpert at HP, joined me for a podcast to talk about some of those challenges and the technology in HP 3PAR Utility Storage that not only makes it ideal for VMware environments but how HP is able to offer our Get Virtual Guarantee. This is a new program that guarantees customers moving to HP 3PAR from legacy storage will double their VM density. Eric and I also talk about what that means. Here’s a YouTube version of the podcast I did with Eric:

You can download this podcast by doing a right-click and "Save as" here. You can find all of my podcasts at http://bit.ly/ATSB-podcasts OR you can download all of my podcasts from iTunes by clicking here - it will open iTunes and allow you to download all of my recent podcasts. If you have any issues with this second link, paste this into your browser: itpc://recordings.talkshoe.com/rss69339.xml. "itpc" is a special format that opens iTunes and lets you download the podcasts from iTunes.

Want to learn more?

I sure hope so – I’ve known about this program for a few months and have been excited to start talking about it. Here are several resources to learn more:

• Check out my Storify article on the Get Virtual Guarantee Note that Storify doesn’t support Internet Explorer – so use another browser
• I have a blog post on my Around the Storage Block blog that gives more details
• We have a Get Virtual Guarantee website that includes the terms & conditions of the program, program brochure, customer stories, and an analyst white paper focusing on VM density.
• You can find my blog at www.hp.com/storage/blog, follow me on Twitter as @HPStorageGuy  and Eric as @ericsiebert

Posted by Karen Brown
Marketing Manager,
HP Client Virtualization

An increasingly global and mobile workforce is changing the demands on IT to support the business. Younger workers are also changing expectations on how IT delivers data and applications.

In the old world, Windows applications, data and user persona were tethered to the desktop; however, managing these for a distributed workforce with multiple computing devices is increasingly challenging.  In the new world with collaboration like eLearning, remote applications, and unified communications (i.e. instant messaging and video conferencing), the new end-user environment is transforming how users work. 

Security breaches are a major concern, no matter what kind of end-point device is used.  Even in 2010, the Ponemon Institute (in an Intel commissioned study) reported $6.4 million average annual cost for lost business laptops.  Imagine with the rapid growth in the number of smart phones and tablets sold, how that number will grow.

Many companies are exploring Bring Your Own Device (or BYOD) strategies to lower their desktop costs and increase employee productivity.  While this may lower costs to purchase desktops and laptops, the challenges of securely managing these multi-OS devices require a new model that works for both the end user and IT.

The bottom line is that IT needs to embrace desktop transformation to enable workers to access their data on many different devices, anywhere and anytime while protecting their information in the datacenter, not on the device. With solutions from HP and VMware, if a user’s Smartphone, tablet, or laptop is lost or stolen, no company information is exposed. 

Rather than try to meet the needs of this new business paradigm with an old computing model, many companies have found a much simpler, more flexible and secure solution: virtualize the desktop with VMware vSphere and View.  HP and VMware make this important move to client virtualization safe and easy by delivering tested solutions sized for specific workloads. 

HP’s client virtualization solutions with VMware View offer a secure end-to-end solution from end point device to back-end datacenter infrastructure.

Want a turnkey solution to save you time with assessment, design, ordering, configuring, installing, and optimizing?  The HP VirtualSystem CV2 with VMware View solution is delivered pre-tested, pre-configured using HP Factory Express, and ready to install onsite with HP Start Up services. 

Worried about managing your client virtualization solution?  HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter is an integrated management solution that proactively manages changes with detailed insight into the relationship between your physical and virtual infrastructure.

HP and VMware understand all of the steps required to get to desktop transformation.  Let us sit down with you to fully understand your goals and objectives; assess your workforce environment; and build an ROI/TCO model to justify your project.  Since we design all the components for the solution, we are able to better integrate storage, networking, and compute to handle your workload. Interested in more information?  Check out our HP VirtualSystem CV2 for VMware View website.  HP VirtualSystem CV2 with VMware View reduces the complexity of deploying client virtualization.

Standardize on a common virtualization platform with VMware View, vSphere and HP industry-standard components and get from concept to production to value faster than ever before.

Want to create your own client virtualization architecture?  Visit our website for more information.

Posted by Brent Allen, HP,
PMP Product LIfecycle Marketing
Converged Application Solutions

Today, March 26^th, 2012, HP and VMware announced the latest updates to the highly popular HP VirtualSystem for VMware. These updates are aimed at further accelerating customers’ ROI through technology, flexibility, and manageability.

HP VirtualSystem for VMware, originally announced in June at HP Discover 2011 (view VMware’s press release here) and launched at the end of August at VMworld 2011 (view launch interviews here or here), is a portfolio of specifically architected and optimized virtualized data center building blocks. These solutions combine HP Converged Infrastructure (made up of servers, storage, networking, intelligent rack and power, and management) with VMware virtualization technologies in optimized blocks that are delivered as turnkey solutions through HP’s Factory Express. These blocks come in three architectures, each designed for specific virtualization requirements: VS1, VS2 and VS3.

With today’s announcement, I’m very happy to report that HP VirtualSystem VS3 for VMware will now include configuration options for HP 3PAR P10000 (V-class) storage. Now, the world’s most powerful virtualized array is also part of the world’s most powerful virtualized solution block! Over the past several months, I have been asked why this wasn’t included in our initial release. The honest answer is the engineering work that developed the original VS3 took place before the P10000 was completed. The original VS3 architecture was largely based on the 3cV reference architectures that had been successful with many of our customers. So, we needed to take some time to develop the right architecture for the 3PAR V-class. Without a doubt, the addition of the HP P10000 3PAR Storage System to VS3 builds on and advances our VirtualSystem technology and architectural leadership through even more advanced 3PAR clustering, efficiency and autonomic management. The direction with VS3 has always been to help customers more confidently consolidate the toughest Tier I applications and the P10000 has been designed with the same thought in mind – so, it is just a natural fit in the portfolio.  

 
It may seem like a small update, but HP VirtualSystem VS1 for VMware customers will see new “midline” configurations that offer additional server and storage flexibility for more granular mapping to individual workload requirements. Realistically, this is huge for us, because this means that we can respond in a more flexible manner to our customers’ needs and budgets. Further, with new additions to the power and networking infrastructure, it is easier than ever for customers to add server and storage nodes to expand systems as they grow.

Additionally, the entire lineup received a management update with the new HP Insight Control V 7.0 management suite and an updated extension for VMware vCenter. This converged management solution drives even more management oversight and control across VirtualSystem into VMware vCenter, helping to simplify the lives of administrators by providing a single pane of glass from which to reduce downtime and identify issues before they occur.     

From a simplified overview screen, administrators get status information from all of their HP subsystems with the ability to dive into anyone of them for more information and control. They also have newsfeeds with information about the latest actions and events in the system and easy access into iLO, Onboard Administrator, VirtualConnect and storage management. All of this amounts to simplified administration and tremendous time savings.

Finally, HP VirtualSystem for VMware has updated to the new intelligent i-Series 42U racks. These new racks offer innovative intelligence capabilities for asset management, unparalleled structural integrity, cooling and cable management advances. They are the first rack family to offer location discovery intelligence for advanced asset management. This new capability integrates with HP Lights-Out Management (iLO) and HP Intelligent Power Distribution Units (iPDU) to communicate to the datacenter manager the U space, row, and rack location of each system. 

So, in the end, we have many small updates across the board that are coming together to provide a lot of value for our customers.

For more information on HP VirtualSystem for VMware, go to www.hp.com/go/vsforvmware

Posted by Jay Workman
Director, HP Alliance
Marketing

VMware and HP Drive Virtualized SAP Landscapes into the Mainstream

With VMware and HP virtualization solutions, your SAP solutions-based development, test, training, and production landscapes can cost less and be more productive than within a purely physical infrastructure. From server consolidation and containment to business process and data center automation, the full range of virtualization benefits can be applied to all sizes of SAP deployments. 

Learn more by registering to attend the Webcast Your SAP Landscape, Virtualized, on January 31 at 8:00 a.m. PST, 11:00 a.m. EST, to understand the benefits of implementing a cost-effective, available, scalable, and secure virtualization platform for your SAP software landscape with HP ProLiant servers based on Intel® Xeon® processors and running VMware vSphere 5.

By attending this Webcast you'll learn:

• How an effective virtualization strategy provides a future-ready scalable landscape
• How to meet and exceed your SAP software landscape performance service-level agreements with virtualization
• How to lower your total cost of ownership while increasing availability, scalability, and security
• How virtualizing SAP software adds little, if any, performance overhead

Experts from Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) and SAP will discuss SAP's recent announcement about virtualization as well as studies outlining the benefits of virtualizing your SAP software landscape. Register today!

Webcast Sponsored by:

Posted by Frances Fortanely
Americas HP Alliance Marketing

Virtually There is a new learning environment designed to help Small and Midsize Businesses (SMBs) leverage the power of virtualization for competitive advantage. Created jointly by HP and VMware, the site features a host of valuable tools—from white papers and solution briefs to an ROI calculator and self assessment—that enable SMBs to evaluate how to implement virtualization at a low cost.

SMBs that think virtualization may be too much will be particularly interested in registering for three on-demand webinars:

• Virtualization 101: Launching into Cloud Computing for SMBs
• Setting Virtual Priorities: Which Applications Should You Virtualize First
• Optimizing the World of IT for End Users: Balancing Freedom and Choice with Security and Compliance to Meet Business

This final webinar was recorded live, in front of an SMB audience, in Austin.

Review the data sheets showcasing SMB solutions from HP and VMware. Enter information into the ROI calculator to determine your potential savings from server consolidation using VMware vSphere^®.  Answer a brief questionnaire and receive a smart paper that consolidates multiple sources of information into an executive summary based on your input.

Affordable, enterprise-level virtualization solutions are available for your SMB. Visit Virtually There to learn more.

Posted by Frank Pfaffernoschke
HP, Sr. Strategic Alliance Manager

Security and compliance continue to be hot topics as organizations embark on their journey to the cloud. Customers today require an integrated framework for comprehensive protection that is cost effective, simple and adaptive.

As VMware helps businesses of all sizes migrate to secure cloud computing and enable them to trust in their cloud, we are pleased to announce that we have expanded our secure cloud offerings with HP through its newly launched Cloud Protection Program (PDF) to address customer requirements around cloud protection and compliance.

We are excited to work with HP to empower our customers to mitigate threats described by the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) and other cloud threat analysis documents.

As a part of this collaboration, below is an overview of our efforts:

• The initial release of HP’s Cloud Protection Foundation Service (page 2 of PDF) is based on VMware cloud infrastructure, which includes VMware vShield™, VMware vSphere™, and VMware vCloud Director®.

• VMware technology is aligned with the HP Cloud Protection Reference Architecture (page 3 of PDF), which provides an organized approach to facilitate discussion and planning to build a customized and compliant, secure enterprise hybrid cloud environment for VMware based infrastructures. 

• Additionally, VMware is working closely with HP on joint testing, integration and architectural design, furthering cloud security research and solution development.

By extending our relationship with HP, we hope to deliver a blueprint for organizations of all sizes to follow in their journey to secure cloud computing.

Posted by Shobhana Viswanathan
Senior Marketing Manager -
Global Alliances

As many organizations have already discovered, security and compliance are key issues that need to be addressed for a successful migration to cloud computing.  The benefits of cloud can be dramatic—including increased  agility, greater end user empowerment, and dramatically reduced costs —but enterprises need to pursue these goals while maintaining IT control, protective safeguards, and regulatory compliance.

These concerns have slowed cloud adoption at many organizations.  In a recent Tech Target survey of over 700 IT and business professionals, 70 percent claimed that they were already leveraging or considering cloud services, but the same percentage also believe the cloud is inherently insecure. An astonishing 60 percent were unaware of the leading applications and other resources that are available to secure cloud environments.

Many of these same issues apply to virtualization, the technology that provides the foundation for cloud.  As reported by Gartner research, only 18 percent of enterprise datacenter workloads that could be virtualized had been virtualized by the end of 2009; and that number is expected to grow to more than 50 percent by the end of 2012.  As more workloads are virtualized, as workloads of different trust levels are combined, and as virtualized workloads become more mobile, the security issues associated with virtualization are likely to become more important than ever.

"Virtualization is not inherently insecure," said Neil MacDonald, vice president and Gartner fellow. "However, most virtualized workloads are being deployed insecurely. The latter is a result of the immaturity of tools and processes and the limited training of staff, resellers and consultants."

Cloud Security Comes of Age

The good news for organizations with their eyes on the cloud is that proven solutions are now available to secure virtualized and cloud environments—and without  sacrificing the agility and end-user choice that are hallmarks of the cloud era.  Working in concert with our security partner ecosystem, VMware is helping businesses of all sizes migrate to secure cloud computing.

You can learn about the results of this collaboration on the new “Trust in Your Cloud” microsite from VMware. It  features the latest VMware vShield™ solutions and resources from our partners including HP Tipping Point, HyTrust, Layer 7, LogLogic, Trend Micro.  These cost-effective and adaptive security services and tools let you use a single policy framework for deploying and managing security services from VMware as well as third parties.

What you’ll see on this microsite is that we’ve arrived at a new era in cloud security.  Check it out, and discover that security issues no longer need to stand in the way of your cloud initiatives and your business.

Posted by Steeve Daigle, HP,
Product Marketing Manager

Have you ever been sittin' there watching TV switching between your two favorite shows trying to follow both stories but missing out the best moments of each shows? Sometimes, managing hardware and virtualized environments feels a little bit like that when you jump from one console to the other.

Imagine being able to manage your server and storage hardware without having to leave the comfortable confines of VMware vCenter Server … That’s exactly what we realized when we started talking to customers about what would make their job easier. This was the genesis of HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter.

HP and VMware worked together to introduce the first ever plug-in linking Server hardware manageability to the VMware vCenter virtualization management framework based on our HP Insight Control management stack.

We started by bringing server health, monitoring and configuration information inside the vSphere client via intuitive dashboards and grew from there increasing the level of integration with each release.

The product has been refined since the first release a couple of years ago, but the concept is still the same – make it dead simple for vCenter users to manage their HP server and storage hardware without leaving vCenter or learning a new tool.

Today HP Insight Control for VMware vCenter helps our customers:

•  Simplify administration with single-console access to health, inventory, and configuration monitoring
  
  
•  Reduce planned and unplanned downtime by automating responses to hardware events
  
  
• Take control by launching your trusted HP management tools in context
  
  
• Proactively manage changes with detailed insight into the relationship between your physical and virtual infrastructure
  
  
•  Map associations between VMs, hosts, datastores, LUNs, storage arrays, and array features

•  Perform storage provisioning operations such as adding a new datastore, deleting or expanding an existing datastore
  
  
• Increase capacity on demand with bare-metal host deployment

• Maintain stability and reliability of your environment with online firmware inventory and deployment

Now to go back to my starting analogy, I’m not sure plugging in together your two favorite shows would necessarily yield a better story all the time. But guess what, crossover episodes of television shows have happen before. Amongst them: CSI and Two and a Half Men… my two favorite shows!

In the end, it sure made sense to bring together the best of our HP hardware management with the best of VMware management framework, customers are raving about it, check out what Atlantic Health had to say!

Visit our website to give it a try and let us know additional integration points between the hardware layer and virtualized layer or… Crossover television show you would like to see happen… Granted, I’m not sure I can really influence the latter!