VMware Kills vRAM Licensing, Will Focus On vSphere Cloud Bundles
By Kevin McLaughlin, CRN, August 21, 2012, 1330 hrs
VMware is discontinuing an unpopular server virtualization-licensing
program and will focus on marketing vSphere and its other cloud
computing products as a unified stack, CRN has learned.
In its upcoming release of vSphere 5.1, VMware is getting rid of
vRAM entitlements, which debuted with vSphere 5 and determine how much
memory customers are permitted to allocate to virtual machines on the
host, according to sources familiar with VMware's plans.
VMware will return to its previous CPU-based licensing model and
will announce the move at VMworld when it unveils vSphere 5.1, sources
told CRN.
VMware did not respond to a request for comment on its decision to discontinue vRAM.
Sources told CRN that VMware is ditching vRAM in part to
maintain its competitive edge against Microsoft, which is adding several
enterprise-class features in its upcoming release of Hyper-V 3.
Microsoft, which has labelled vRAM as a "vTax," has been using the model
in a campaign to lure away VMware customers.
Jettisoning vRAM will allow VMware to adopt a packaged licensing
model, in which its other cloud products—such as vCenter Operations,
vShield and vCloud Director—will be included with the base vSphere
licenses. This will simplify matters for customers and eliminate what
has been a source of friction in the channel, sources told CRN.
"A lot of customers feel like they are being nickel-and-dimed on
things, which hurts the cost model of virtualization, so VMware is
going to aggressively bundle. That bundle scheme made little sense with
vRAM," said one source, who requested anonymity.
The vRAM model triggered an outcry from customers when VMware
introduced it last July. The hubbub subsided after VMware increased its
initial vRAM limits, but sources told CRN that many customers still view
the model as overly complex and expensive.
"The vRAM entitlements confused the hell out of a lot of
customers," said one source, who spoke with CRN on condition of
anonymity. "They did not get why they had to burn multiple licenses for
their memory-dense servers. It was because they were buying a ton of RAM
to run lots of workloads."
For partners that have been on the front lines educating customers about vRAM, VMware's change of course is a mixed blessing.
"We were very relieved to hear that the vRAM licensing model is
going away, but also a little annoyed that it was put in place for such a
short time," one source told CRN, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"We have spent a considerable amount of time talking with customers
about the pros and cons of the vRAM system, how it affects their
environment, and what we needed to do to plan for the future."
VMware has been talking about selling its cloud stack as a
unified whole for some time. In an interview with CRN last June, Carl
Eschenbach, COO and Co-President, VMware said the goal was to eventually
give the channel an all-inclusive private cloud bundle. "Today there is
not a single SKU that pulls it all together, but that's the direction
we are going as a company," Eschenbach said at the time.
VMware will also use vSphere bundles to jump-start adoption of
vCloud Director, which has been sluggish, sources said. vCloud service
provider partners have been slow to build out the infrastructure and
business model for cloud services, and Project Zephyr, VMware's public
cloud infrastructure-as-a-service, is seen in the channel as another
attempt to address this issue.
vRAM is one of the few blemishes on outgoing CEO Paul Maritz's
successful four-year tenure. Yet, Maritz never backed down when
questioned about VMware's rationale for vRAM, noting on several
occasions that VMware was merely adjusting its vSphere licensing to
account for the greater value its customers were getting from it as they
embraced the cloud model.
Maritz has also made it clear that additional licensing changes are coming as VMware moves to a consumption-based model.
"We are trying to be careful, and thoughtful, as we go forward,
and be honest about the fact that over the next years ... the licensing
is going to have to change," Maritz said in February at VMware Partner
Exchange.
It would not be surprising if the decision to kill vRAM came
from Pat Gelsinger, incoming CEO, VMware, who spent 30 years at Intel
and may not be keen on the idea of limiting what customers can do with
today's multi-core processors.
Starting September 1, 2012, Gelsinger will take over as CEO of VMware, and Maritz will move to EMC as Chief Strategy Officer. |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment