Is VMware Really Targeting Telecom?
Don't you just love hearing predictions about what's going to happen 10, 15 or 20 years from now? As if we can figure out what's going come down the chute next Tuesday in the current economic climate. Technology acceleration is full of imponderables and progress is often marked by quantum leaps ... events that can change the game enormously in a relatively short span of time. Back in the day, no one, and I mean no one, predicted the full sets of impacts that the Internet would have on business, culture and just everyday life.
In general, the trouble with predictions is that they tend to make linear, more of the same, steady-state assumptions about where things are headed. Still, it's fun to hear them. Like this one: "By 2020, mobile phones will be the primary Internet devices for most people in the world." (Wow, digital divide, solved!)
iPhone momentum towards business markets is clear and undeniable as well as that of other devices. That's part of why VMware announced the acquisition of Trango back in November. The deal targets mobile phone makers as a new market segment for VMware. As mobile phones get smarter and become all-purpose devices accessing desktop information, they will become an even more important market. Add to that the Gartner prediction that, by 2012, over half of all smartphones being shipped by suppliers will be virtualized and you can see why VMware made the move.
When the announcement came out, the biggest question in my mind was whether the company would continue to go after core telecom customers or put more emphasis on 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. But during a recent visit to our offices I asked Bogomil Balkansky, VMware's Sr. Director of Marketing, this question and he confirmed that the traditional telecom market is definitely on the radar screen.
Posted by Tom Valovic on 01/26/2009 at 12:49 PM