VMware Earnings Call Coming
Hi everyone. It's been awhile since I blogged, which always makes me feel a wee bit guilty. I truly enjoy blogging and keeping the dialogue with you, the readers, going. But sometimes other work intrudes to a degree that it can't be helped.
In the case of last week and much of this, it's duties related to pumping out the magazine that's the main culprit. Our July/August issue is going to be sensational, but it's time-consuming. I hope (and think) that you'll find the tradeoff (less blogging in exchange for the magazine content) to be worthwhile.
In addition, mid-summer (at least here in the States) is a traditionally slow news time. Everyone's on vacation, and work slows to a crawl. Not for everyone, though. For instance, if you work for VMware, things have been hopping lately, haven't they? The most important, influential company in virtualization faces perhaps its most crucial time ever, with the transition from Diane Greene to Paul Maritz, at almost the exact same time Microsoft releases Hyper-V, its "ESX killer" (at least Redmond hopes so).
That's why tomorrow's VMware earnings call takes on special significance. Maritz will be facing the public for the first time as VMware's top dog, and will try to explain earnings numbers that fall below last years' -- how much below, we won't know until tomorrow. But you can bet it will probably be a hefty amount. VMware said, in the same release announcing Greene's departure and Maritz' arrival, that "While VMware is not updating guidance for Q2, we expect revenues for the full year of 2008 will be modestly below the previous guidance of 50% growth over 2007."
I'm still fascinated that VMware conflated all these events in one press release. It wasn't enough to announce that one of your founders is out, replaced by a formerly very high-ranking Microsoft exec? It still smells vaguely of scapegoating to me.
In any event, Executive Editor Tom Valovic and I will be on the call, and we'll let you know what happens ASAP after the call. I don't think it's hyperbole to state that it's one of VMware's most important events ever. Everyone will be watching and listening, trying to glean whatever can be learned about VMware's direction and plans for the near, mid, and far future.
Stay tuned.
Posted by Keith Ward on 07/21/2008 at 12:48 PM