Virtualisation and open development frameworks are squeezing out operating systems in data centres, VMware President and CEO Paul Maritz said Wednesday at the Structure 2010 conference in San Francisco.

Though there are still operating systems underlying virtualised infrastructures, their traditional roles are being usurped by new elements that are transforming the world of IT, Maritz said. These developments are helping enterprises run old and new applications in a more efficient, cloud-like manner and get more value from their IT systems, two trends that companies are embracing, he said.

VMware is the dominant provider of virtualisation technology and last year acquired SpringSource, provider of an open development framework. But Maritz described the growing role of these technologies as an industry-wide trend.

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