VMTN Blog

San Jose Mercury News: VMworld moves into the mainstream

"You're virtually there," punned a sign by the escalator. A company offered bumper stickers: "I brake for virtualization."

Such are the gimmicks at VMworld, a three-day conference that opened Tuesday at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center. Think of it as the Burning Man of "virtualization," an esoteric software field that has rapidly bloomed into a full-fledged industry, involving both powerhouse companies like Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Intel as well as a fresh crop of start-ups.

AP: VMware Seeks to Build on IPO Buzz

"Diane Greene had a great vision. She has proven that virtualization is bigger than anyone ever thought it could be," said Vinod Khosla, a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist and co-founder of Sun Microsystems Inc. He is investing in a startup, Xsigo, that specializes in virtualization hardware.

Greene, 52, told Tuesday's audience she sometimes finds it hard to believe how quickly virtualization is gathering steam.

"A year ago, we were talking about virtualization becoming mainstream," she said. "Now, we are talking about a virtualization industry."

VMware's future looks so bright that some analysts believe the company someday could become as essential to the computing world as Microsoft is.

KNTV-TV  CH 11 (NBC)  San Francisco: Diane Greene, VMWare, talks about their Swiss Army Knife software. (Video available for the next 21 days)