 "Virtualisation Is Foundation Of Path To Cloud")
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Server Virtualization Tracker, 19.4% of all new servers shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010 (4Q10) were virtualised, an increase from 18.4% in the fourth quarter of 2009. New server shipments virtualised in 4Q10 increased to 398,617 units, with the majority of the growth coming from emerging regions. And after declining 4% year over year in 2009, new server shipments virtualised experienced 28% year-over-year growth for the full year 2010. Virtualised server end user spending increased 23.3% year over year in 4Q10 and 13.5% for all of 2010, reaching $16.8 billion for the year.
Worldwide virtualisation software revenue for all CPU types increased 36% year over year in 4Q10 to $877 million, due to the maturation of virtualisation usage which mandates higher value virtualisation software management tools. Virtualisation licenses increased 13% year over year and 32% for all of 2010.
“2010 was characterised by strong demand for new servers to support rapidly expanding virtualised environments with x86 systems leading the way,” said Matt Eastwood, group vice president of Enterprise Platforms at IDC. “IDC continues to see virtualisation as a critical evolutionary step in the journey to the private cloud with customers’ environments quickly maturing and focusing on mobility, self-provisioning, and metering & chargeback capabilities. As a result, IDC believes that automation tools increasingly represent the battleground in determining the winners and losers in a marketplace which is rapidly reshaping itself.”
Server Virtualisation Maturity Signals Changing Behaviours and Buying Intentions
“Over the last year we have seen widespread adoption of virtualisation in both mature and emerging regions,” said Michelle Bailey, research vice president of Datacenter Trends at IDC. “The recession affected datacentres across all geographies and consequently many organisations leveraged the consolidation benefits of virtual machine technology to lower short-term capital costs. Looking ahead, the most successful vendors in the virtualisation market will be those that can automate the management of an ever-escalating installed base of virtual machines as well as provide a platform for long-term innovation that enables customers to continuously make improvements to their operations. Virtual server sprawl is already a reality for many IT organisations and we expect that 2010 will be a tipping point in the adoption of new management tools and IT policies.”
Overall New Server Shipments Virtualised Market Standings, by Vendor
Hewlett-Packard held onto its number 1 spot for worldwide new server shipments virtualised with 43% market share for the quarter, increasing 22% year over year in 4Q10. Dell maintained the number 2 position with 26% market share following a 9% year-over-year increase in new server shipments virtualised in 4Q10. IBM remained in the third position with 15% market share in 4Q10 while growing shipments 12% year over year in the quarter.
For 2010, Hewlett-Packard increased its market share to 41%, up 3% from 2009. Dell’s and IBM’s market share were essentially flat in 2010 at 28% and 14%, respectively.
x86 Virtualisation License Market Standings, by Virtualisation Platform
VMware ESX continues to be the number 1 virtualisation platform with total licenses increasing 21% year over year in 4Q10. Microsoft Hyper-V is the second leading virtualisation platform growing 62% year over year. Citrix XenServer rounds out the top 3, while growing 25% year over year. Meanwhile, the type 2 hypervisors, VMware Server and Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 continue their descent, declining 27% and 51%, respectively.
“The hype of cloud computing was all the rage in 2010,” said Brett Waldman, senior research analyst for Software Appliances and Virtualisation at IDC. “But it is the foundation of virtualisation that makes it all possible. Combined with the economic recovery, the drive to pave the way towards creating cloud computing environments gave rise to a very successful year in virtualisation implementations.”