What do Virtualization and Cloud executives think about 2010?  Find out in this VMblog.com series exclusive.

Contributed Article by Ratmir Timashev, President and CEO of Veeam Software

Prediction 2010: The Future of Virtualization

Large-Scale Adoption of VMware vSphere 4

Expect to see a large-scale adoption of VMware vSphere 4 because it provides a very strong value proposition for customers, especially in the areas of storage management and data protection.  The more enterprises learn about vSphere, the more we expect to see it adopted - 2010 should be a big year for this. 

Hyper-V to Become a Major Force

At the same time, we believe that Microsoft Hyper-V will begin to capture substantial market share among small and medium businesses (SMBs). The majority of SMBs have fewer than 50 servers, and their IT staffs are almost always familiar with Microsoft products. Not only is the learning curve easy for them with Hyper-V, but the "free" price is appealing.

Multi-hypervisor Systems Management

The two developments above point to an increased need for products capable of helping meet the challenge of multi-hypervisor management. The ability to span multiple hypervisor platforms with a single management solution will become an important deciding factor for some enterprise customers in 2010. Many will be looking at a mix of VMware, Microsoft, Oracle, and Citrix.

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) Market Leader Will Emerge

In 2010 we will begin to see a clear market leader, whether it be Citrix or VMware.  It's too soon to predict which will win the lion's share of this market, but as VDI adoption grows, a clearer picture will emerge.

Advanced Data Protection Within Reach

Sophisticated techniques similar to continuous data protection (CDP) will increasingly be within the reach of small and medium-sized enterprises in 2010.  New technical capabilities such as frequent replication in virtualized server environments will provide a cost-effective "near CDP" experience for many more customers, opening up more choices and levels of data protection at various price points.

About the Author

Ratmir Timashev possesses a rare combination of proven business savvy, forward-looking technical knowledge and market vision. As President and CEO of Veeam Software, Ratmir brings to bear more than a decade of entrepreneurial experience building, advising and investing in successful technology companies. In 1997, he founded Aelita Software, provider of award-winning Windows Server systems management software. In 2004, Aelita was acquired by Quest Software, and after ensuring the successful continuation of Aelita's products and strategy at Quest, Ratmir founded Veeam Software to provide similar systems management solutions for virtualized server infrastructures. Veeam Software offers an award-winning suite of tools to assist the VMware administrator, including #1 for VMware backup: Veeam Backup & Replication; Veeam Reporter Enterprise, for VMware performance, storage, capacity reporting and chargeback;  and Veeam Monitor, for VMware performance monitoring and alerting across multiple vCenters.