It was interesting to read this post on TechTarget that posed the question, “Is network virtualization real or just vaporware?” The facts are pretty clear that network virtualization is being deployed in production networks today to create business opportunities and solve infrastructure challenges for real-world customers.

For example, NTT Communications, one of the world’s largest telecommunications providers, announced it is deploying network virtualization as foundation for its new service enterprise cloud service.

WorldPay has deployed network virtualization to enable user self-provisioning and support around-the-clock development to speed the delivery of new line-of-business applications. By virtualizing the network, WorldPay gains operational simplicity to quickly create development environments in a non-disruptive way, and has on-demand access to network services such as load balancing and firewalls.

How about ViaWest, one of the largest privately-held data center, cloud computing and managed service providers in North America? Network virtualization provides ViaWest with a more efficient way of deploying cloud services than traditional hardware-defined networking approaches, leading to lower overall costs and a more consistent customer experience.

Or Logicworks, which specializes in private, public and hybrid cloud solutions for a broad array of industries, including a cloud offering focused specifically on the emerging healthcare market. Network virtualization enables Logicworks to be flexible in meeting app-specific infrastructure requirements for healthcare customers in a fraction of the time it would take to deploy applications using traditional, physical infrastructure.

To his credit, the author took all of the feedback and comments in stride. He wrote a follow up post on his own blog where he answers his own question, saying, “There’s no question that network virtualization is real and is a serious force in the market.”

I’m glad the industry as a whole is starting to see potential for our VMware NSX network virtualization platform. We look forward to delivering on both the potential and the excitement which the author highlighted.

Roger Fortier, VMware, Inc.