‘Sprawl’ is one of those overused terms in virtualization. Although to date, in my opinion, there is not a better description out there that can conjure up fear and groans in equal measure. Simply put, it is synonymous with ‘management overhead’!

Today I’m going to write about another kind of sprawl (like you really need another kind of sprawl!) - Virtualization Vendor Sprawl.

Over the years many niche players have arisen to fill in the technology gaps that were left open by mainstream virtualization. In most organizations the process of vendor consolidation is one that most growing or acquisitive enterprises will face from time to time. It’s not a task that is relished by those involved and it always proves to be a tightrope walk of cutting costs without cutting corners.

If you’ve already been through this exercise then there is not much I can add to your experience with this article. But I would ask that you share your experiences at the end of this article, for the benefit of our readership. For those about to take this route, I hope I can give you some useful points to consider.

First, what are the benefits of vendor consolidation? Vendor Consolidation has many advantages if it is done correctly, such as:

• Reduced number of contracts/documents
• Reduced number of contacts
• Easier negotiation/purchasing/procurement
• Better discount levels
• Reduced maintenance costs
• Renewals streamlined
• Service levels are consistent
• Support is consistent
• Product interaction/integration should be simplified

Sounds great doesn’t it? But before you throw out that entire extraneous product and give all your money to the largest gorilla in the room, here are a few things to consider:

• How do we get to that point?
• Are you trading-off against ‘best of breed’ technologies?
• Does vendor ‘lock-in’ give you the best deal all-round?

In addition to looking at the technologies that a company offers, in this day and age you  also need to look at their balance sheets and financial stability to make sure that they are capable of going the distance with you.

When collecting technologies together, some products may not fit neatly into categories in the same way their physical counterpart technologies did. For example, does virtualization backup fit with virtualization technologies or backup technologies, or neither? Does it fit with DR technologies?

Are you at risk of trading off ‘best of breed’ technologies? This is always the biggest concern; throwing the baby out with the bathwater so to speak. Despite virtualization being relatively new, it is mature enough to have multiple vendors with overlapping technologies. This means you should probably investigate how many candidate vendors can give you more. You probably won’t find a vendor that will deliver everything, but it makes sense to choose one that can deliver on a lot of things and is not focused on a single, specific aspect of virtualization.

This leads to the last point, vendor lock-in. If you bet the farm on one single vendor, then this can prove painful if not risky. It could affect your agility and ability to manage your virtualization investment. Just remember though, this process is designed for those who are in this for the long-haul. With that in mind the vendors you choose should be selected with that in mind and therefore start-ups will probably not figure in your list. The larger companies are capable of weathering the economic storms. But also, they can make the strategic acquisitions that ultimately will add value to your existing investment.

Vendors such as Oracle, Microsoft, VMware and Quest continually make acquisitions to help their customers “bridge the gap” by ensuring that best of breed is not lost by vendor consolidation.

Please feel free to share your experiences.

-Paul Martin