Pac-Man Revisited
Embrace and Extend can be a Good Thing
By Roger L. Kay
Microsoft pleased thousands of its faithful developers at Microsoft Management Summit in Las
Vegas this April by demonstrating that it has the juice when it comes to virtualization. During the
keynote, conducted by Bob Muglia and amply punctuated with live demos run by his team and by
cheers and applause from thousands of developers in the capacious room, Microsoft
demonstrated that it will have a first-class hypervisor and virtual machine manager when it
launches its System Center 2008 suite this summer.
The company demonstrated how its software will not only execute complex configuration and
deployment tasks associated with virtual environments, but also how it will manage those tasks
from a single console. The item that got the most cheering, however, was the revelation that the
Virtual Machine Manager console (part of the System Center family of management products)
will manage VMware’s virtual machines the same way it handles Microsoft’s own Hyper-V
machines. VMware’s deployment tools are still required, but once these machines are up, they
become peers of the Microsoft elements from the management tool’s perspective.
System Center Operation Manger, another tool introduced during the keynote, provides an
underlying infrastructure that allows the management of products based on Microsoft Server
2008 as well as a broad set of Linux- and Unix-based systems. This sort of agnosticism is fairly
new for Microsoft, which is better known for setting its own standards and making anyone who
wants to connect to Microsoft products adhere to them. But, as Muglia himself said, this is not
your grandfather’s Microsoft.
Although it is perhaps a bit of an irony that Microsoft, given its heritage in client operating
systems, is the company providing interoperability with competing offerings rather than building
a unique proprietary environment, the picture becomes clearer when you understand where
these initiatives are coming from. Muglia runs the Server and Tools division at Microsoft, an
operating group in the new mold. If you view Microsoft’s problem as converting its business
base over the long haul from its dominant client businesses (essentially, Windows and Office)
to a new set of large, profitable, but not necessarily monopoly, businesses, then Server and
Tools is the first and most successful of these new units. With an annual revenue run rate of
around $13 billion and profits of about $4 billion, Server and Tools could stand on its own as a
major corporation. In addition, since it grew up in a competitive market, where rivals include not
only purveyors of operating systems like Unix and Linux, but also enterprise systems providers
like IBM and HP, it has learned to coexist with these firms’ products and even thrive in a
heterogeneous environment. Competitiveness has had another salutary effect on the company.
It must listen to its customers and deliver what they want, perhaps novel concepts for the “old”
Microsoft, but vital for the survival and prosperity of Server and Tools.
Thus, Microsoft has taken the lead in providing interoperability with other systems so that IT
managers who live in heterogeneous environments can have one simplified interface to
manage a variety of different vendors’ products.
The interesting effect of this apparent generosity, however, is that buyers will perhaps be
inclined to buy a higher proportion of their mix from Microsoft, since it is so convenient. For
example, although it’s true that the Virtual Machine Manager can manage VMware’s virtual
machines, it can deploy only its own. Once an IT manager gets used to the ease of both
deployment and management that Microsoft provides within its own product suite, he or she
might ask him- or herself, quite legitimately, why should I take the extra step to preserve my
VMware systems when it would be simpler and more robust to get everything from Microsoft?
So, we may be at “embrace and extend” all over again, albeit set to different music. Microsoft’s
best move is provide interoperability and heterogeneous support, which may have the effect of
engulfing its competitors. The company is happy to support VMware, which doesn’t connect to
Microsoft products, but by providing links to competitive software products, Microsoft is helping
its customers at the same time as enhancing its own chances in the market. By making
superior products, the company can win a customer over to more of them. For example, within
the Virtual Machine Manager, there is a wizard for creating a new instance of a virtual machine.
The dialog box opens, and there’s one button on it that says, “Create.” That’s it. You’re done.
That demo got what passes for a wild roar from Microsoft customers and developers in the
crowd (Mac fanbois, they’re not, after all). But what’s not to love?
The difference between this situation and what’s happening over in the company’s traditional
businesses is that here customers have alternatives. Microsoft has to listen to its customers,
and its products have to compete on their merits. Bread and butter for most firms, but perhaps
way radical thinking for Microsoft. So, if you believe in free markets, Microsoft can win in this
case, and it’s all good.
© 2008 Endpoint Technologies Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Vegas this April by demonstrating that it has the juice when it comes to virtualization. During the
keynote, conducted by Bob Muglia and amply punctuated with live demos run by his team and by
cheers and applause from thousands of developers in the capacious room, Microsoft
demonstrated that it will have a first-class hypervisor and virtual machine manager when it
launches its System Center 2008 suite this summer.
The company demonstrated how its software will not only execute complex configuration and
deployment tasks associated with virtual environments, but also how it will manage those tasks
from a single console. The item that got the most cheering, however, was the revelation that the
Virtual Machine Manager console (part of the System Center family of management products)
will manage VMware’s virtual machines the same way it handles Microsoft’s own Hyper-V
machines. VMware’s deployment tools are still required, but once these machines are up, they
become peers of the Microsoft elements from the management tool’s perspective.
System Center Operation Manger, another tool introduced during the keynote, provides an
underlying infrastructure that allows the management of products based on Microsoft Server
2008 as well as a broad set of Linux- and Unix-based systems. This sort of agnosticism is fairly
new for Microsoft, which is better known for setting its own standards and making anyone who
wants to connect to Microsoft products adhere to them. But, as Muglia himself said, this is not
your grandfather’s Microsoft.
Although it is perhaps a bit of an irony that Microsoft, given its heritage in client operating
systems, is the company providing interoperability with competing offerings rather than building
a unique proprietary environment, the picture becomes clearer when you understand where
these initiatives are coming from. Muglia runs the Server and Tools division at Microsoft, an
operating group in the new mold. If you view Microsoft’s problem as converting its business
base over the long haul from its dominant client businesses (essentially, Windows and Office)
to a new set of large, profitable, but not necessarily monopoly, businesses, then Server and
Tools is the first and most successful of these new units. With an annual revenue run rate of
around $13 billion and profits of about $4 billion, Server and Tools could stand on its own as a
major corporation. In addition, since it grew up in a competitive market, where rivals include not
only purveyors of operating systems like Unix and Linux, but also enterprise systems providers
like IBM and HP, it has learned to coexist with these firms’ products and even thrive in a
heterogeneous environment. Competitiveness has had another salutary effect on the company.
It must listen to its customers and deliver what they want, perhaps novel concepts for the “old”
Microsoft, but vital for the survival and prosperity of Server and Tools.
Thus, Microsoft has taken the lead in providing interoperability with other systems so that IT
managers who live in heterogeneous environments can have one simplified interface to
manage a variety of different vendors’ products.
The interesting effect of this apparent generosity, however, is that buyers will perhaps be
inclined to buy a higher proportion of their mix from Microsoft, since it is so convenient. For
example, although it’s true that the Virtual Machine Manager can manage VMware’s virtual
machines, it can deploy only its own. Once an IT manager gets used to the ease of both
deployment and management that Microsoft provides within its own product suite, he or she
might ask him- or herself, quite legitimately, why should I take the extra step to preserve my
VMware systems when it would be simpler and more robust to get everything from Microsoft?
So, we may be at “embrace and extend” all over again, albeit set to different music. Microsoft’s
best move is provide interoperability and heterogeneous support, which may have the effect of
engulfing its competitors. The company is happy to support VMware, which doesn’t connect to
Microsoft products, but by providing links to competitive software products, Microsoft is helping
its customers at the same time as enhancing its own chances in the market. By making
superior products, the company can win a customer over to more of them. For example, within
the Virtual Machine Manager, there is a wizard for creating a new instance of a virtual machine.
The dialog box opens, and there’s one button on it that says, “Create.” That’s it. You’re done.
That demo got what passes for a wild roar from Microsoft customers and developers in the
crowd (Mac fanbois, they’re not, after all). But what’s not to love?
The difference between this situation and what’s happening over in the company’s traditional
businesses is that here customers have alternatives. Microsoft has to listen to its customers,
and its products have to compete on their merits. Bread and butter for most firms, but perhaps
way radical thinking for Microsoft. So, if you believe in free markets, Microsoft can win in this
case, and it’s all good.
© 2008 Endpoint Technologies Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Competition as a Prod to Better Manners
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