VMware Tackles Telecom

VMware’s acquisition of a small French start-up called Trango Virtual Processors signals a new direction for the company. But how big a deal is this? Trango is tiny, around 20 people. Nevertheless VMware being VMware, the move got its share of industry attention.

Trango’s product, an embedded bare metal hypervisor for virtualizing mobile devices, is called the Mobile Virtualization Platform or MVP. A key unanswered question right now is whether VMware/Trango is going after the same customer base that competitors like VirtualLogix are currently involved with. This includes mainstream telecom giants like Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent, and NEC.

The mobile device market is in a state of flux right now because cell phones are just special-purpose computers and multicore is going to amp their capability to an impressive level. This is just another area where IT/ telecom convergence --- one of the areas I used to cover as an analyst -- is making its mark (You can see it in just about every nook and cranny of the telecom market actually.)

Traditional mobile phone suppliers like Nokia and Motorola are feeling pressure from IT players like Apple (iPhone) and Google (Android) who are busy trying to reinvent the very notion of what a mobile handset is and does. Add to that the fact that desktop capability is already migrating to mobile devices like iPhones and Blackberrys and the value for VMware becomes apparent. But here’s the kicker question: the traditional telecom supplier market is huge although complex and highly specialized. Will they go after it?

What are your thoughts on the VMware deal? Post here or send me an email.

Posted by Tom Valovic on 11/16/2008 at 12:49 PM