Mention VMWare and you’ll instantly think desktop virtualisation software. Running Windows within a Mac, Linux within a Mac/Windows or Windows within Windows through a product like VMWare Fusion is probably something you may be familiar with. Virtualisation allows users to run multiple operating systems and environments on a single desktop PC. Virtualisation, of course, isn’t limited to desktops. VMWare was the first to bring virtualisation to the server environment, kicking it off initially some years ago with Windows NT. VMWare, in fact, is the leading virtualisation and cloud infrastructure solution provider in the world today.
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Facts About VMWare
First, some facts about this company headquartered in Silicon Valley. VMWare has over 300,000 customers and 25,000 partners globally. This includes 100 percent of Fortune 100, Fortune Global 100 companies. Impressive. Its revenues in 2010 was $2.9 billion and currently has over $3 billion in cash, and employs over 10,000 personnel worldwide. VMWare, effectively, is the fifth largest infrastructure software company in the world.
Its extensive global partner ecosystem include over 2,000 technology and consulting partners like AMD, CISCO, IBM, HP, SAP and Symantec with over 59,000 VMWare certified professionals. Its 4,100 strong vCloud Service Provider Partners include telcos like AT&T, BT, SingTel and Verizon.
[pullquote align=”left”]Laurence Si, Country Manager, VMWare Malaysia said, “With smartphones and tablet devices becoming essential tools at work, businesses and governments need to support an increasingly mobile workforce. This has led them to view cloud computing as a strategic investment that will allow them to achieve business agility and efficiency, while leveraging existing investments and preparing for future growth.”[/pullquote]Malaysia: The Journey Has Begun
A recent study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of VMWare in October 2011 called Cloud Computing in Asia Pacific: The Annual Cloud Maturity Index shows that a majority of Malaysian organisations see the Cloud as an enabler for a more mobile and flexible workforce. Organisations increasingly view cloud computing as a strategic initiative.
Driven by Consumerism
The key reason for this big transformation in information technology is consumerism. Consumerism that has moved into the enterprise space. Consumerism has brought changes to how enterprises build infrastructure, build and deliver applications and end user computing. The transition to the ‘Post-PC’ era, much mentioned by the late Steve Jobs, has already begun with the plethora of smartphones and tablets. People now have at least 2.7 devices with them at all times. The diversity of devices has spurred a need to change. It is estimated that by 2015, there will be 1.1 billion cell phones and 300 million tablets shipped while the mobile app market is expected to be worth $38 billion. Enterprises need to securely embrace and manage new platforms, devices and new means of collaboration.
In an exclusive media briefing at One World Hotel, Ed Lenta, General Manager of VMWare ASEAN, in his keynote remarked that Malaysia is about 3-5 years behind countries like New Zealand, Australia and the US in terms of cloud computing adoption. Malaysian organisations primarily expect cloud computing to reduce hardware/IT spending and act as a mechanism for delivery storage and networking ‘on-demand’. Over 60 percent of Malaysian firms are either currently using or actively planning cloud initiatives.
Data Privacy is Top Barrier
So what’s stopping Malaysian organisations from adopting cloud initiatives? Data privacy and security of corporate data proved to be the top barrier, a trend that is consistent across the region. The study found that most companies indicated a likelihood to consider a hybrid cloud (combination of private and public clouds) as opposed to public clouds. To address these concerns, VMWare has forged partnerships with JARING and other VMWare Serve Provider Program partners to enable secure provision of enterprise-grade solutions.
The role of telecommunications service providers are expected to change as the adoption of cloud computing increases. While Government Linked Companies (GLC) were expected to spearhead this transformation, the multinational corporations (MNCs) have instead been taking the task.
iPerintis: A Malaysian Success Story
A Malaysian customer success story is iPerintis, a subsidiary of PETRONAS, who partnered VMWare to deploying a VMWare private cloud for PETRONAS to reduce cost, lowering datacenter load and delivering chargeback facility. The deployment saw a cost reduction of between 20 t0 30 percent compared to a physical server environment, extended high availability to business applications and cut infrastructure provisioning times from two months to three days.
The take-away from the presentation and study is this – The need for a simplified and efficient IT. Ubiquity of devices and mobile users. Virtualisation. Cloud Computing. This translates to IT Agility. IT Agility equals Business Agility. And Business Agility equals higher revenues, productivity and lower cost.
For more on VMWare, visit www.vmware.com
[spoiler title=”Show Official Press Release”]
NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT
Research Shows Majority of Malaysian Organizations See Cloud as an Enabler for a More Mobile and Flexible Workforce
Concerns over Data Privacy Propelling Preference for Hybrid Clouds
- Increase in cloud adoption and cloud initiatives planning despite concerns
- Data privacy/residency is the top barrier to cloud computing adoption
- Enterprises overwhelmingly prefer a hybrid cloud over a public cloud model
- Companies want to partner with telecommunications service providers
MALAYSIA – November 15, 2011 — VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, today revealed the Malaysian findings of the Cloud Computing in Asia Pacific: The Annual Cloud Maturity Index, a commissioned research study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of VMware in October 2011.
Surveyed organizations in Malaysia increasingly view cloud computing as a strategic initiative (43 percent versus 37 percent in 2010), and more than 80 percent said it will enable them to support a more mobile and flexible workforce. Additionally, the majority of respondents strongly agreed that cloud computing will help their organizations share IT resources more effectively (85 percent) and become more flexible (82 percent).
“With smartphones and tablet devices becoming essential tools at work, businesses and governments need to support an increasingly mobile workforce. This has led them to view cloud computing as a strategic investment that will allow them to achieve business agility and efficiency, while leveraging existing investments and preparing for future growth,” said Laurence Si, Country Manager, VMware Malaysia.
Cloud Adoption Moves Ahead in Spite of Challenges
Currently in its second year, the Index found that 64 percent of Malaysian firms are either currently using or actively planning cloud initiatives, with a significant increase in the former (28 percent versus 21 percent in 2010). Cloud adoption was found to increase with the size of the organization surveyed – 50 percent of respondents from firms with more than 10,000 employees indicated that they are already using a cloud computing solution compared to organizations with fewer than 10,000 staff (between 14 – 34 percent).
Insurance firms (67 percent) and telecommunications companies (57 percent) led in terms of organizations that have already implemented cloud initiatives, while the education sector (69 percent) and retail companies (50 percent) led by way of planned deployments.
Data privacy (rated 7.8 out of 10) surpassed security as the top barrier to adoption of cloud computing in Malaysia, a trend that was consistent across the region.
Hybrid Clouds on the Ascent as Companies Adopt Virtualization
Nearly three-quarters of local respondents said their organizations have already adopted virtualization, with 73 percent of respondents citing it as a critical step toward cloud computing. In fact, 86 percent of respondents indicated the need to adopt virtualization for server/datacenter capabilities, while business continuity and disaster recovery came in second at 84 percent. Fifty-five percent also said they are actively implementing or considering implementing desktop virtualization due to concerns over Windows 7 migration – far above the regional average of 43 percent.
Most companies in Malaysia indicated a greater likelihood to use or consider a combination of public and private clouds (43 percent) while 30 percent chose private clouds. The exclusive use of public clouds was the least popular (four percent) due to concerns over the security of corporate data and applications.
Consistent with regional trends, Malaysian organizations primarily expect cloud computing to reduce hardware spending and act as a mechanism for delivering storage and networking ‘on-demand’. In fact, 74 percent of respondents expect to deploy storage to a private cloud.
The Index also found that the role of telecommunications service providers is expected to change as adoption of cloud computing continues. Specifically, 73 percent of multinational corporations (MNCs), 65 percent of government agencies, and 62 percent of local respondents said they expect cloud computing to increase the role and importance of hosting service providers within their organization.
“Serious concerns over data privacy and security have led local respondents to show a preference for a hybrid cloud model,” said Si. “We believe that seamless federation of information between public, private and hybrid clouds is critical to realizing the true benefits of cloud computing. With that in mind, our partnerships with JARING in Malaysia and other VMware Service Provider Program partners are designed to enable the secure provision of enterprise-grade solutions and management tools that work transparently and securely across our customers’ different cloud environments.”
About the Cloud Computing in Asia Pacific: The Annual Cloud Maturity Index
The Cloud Computing in Asia Pacific: The Annual Cloud Maturity Index was compiled through interviews with 158 respondents in Malaysia, and a total of 6,141 senior business and IT decision makers from eight Asia Pacific countries – Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand – involving companies from the technology, telecoms, government, manufacturing, insurance, financial services, healthcare, transport/logistics, education and retail industries. The study also included SMEs with fewer than 100 employees and MNCs with more than 10,000 staff.
About VMware
VMware is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2010 revenues of $2.9 billion, VMware has more than 300,000 customers and 25,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com. [/spoiler]
