VMware, HP Partner on Virtual OS

By Charles Babcock, InformationWeek, December 12, 2008 11:20 AM

Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) and VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) are joining forces to bring VMware's concept of a virtual data center operating system closer to reality. It marks the second alliance in two months between VMware and a traditional systems management vendor.

Last month, VMware partnered with CA Inc. (Nasdaq: CA), supplier of CA-Unicenter and other systems management software, to integrate VMware Stage Manager with CA's Data Center Automation Manager. The VMware product generates virtual environments that match production settings where new or updated software combinations can be run for test purposes, before deployment. Unexpected conflicts between updated software and the existing environment is a frequent cause of data center failures.

VMware's newfound closeness to well-established systems management vendors reflect its desire to more closely integrate its ESX hypervisor operation with the underlying physical assets and software infrastructure. VMware will soon be competing with Microsoft Corp.