VMware ESX is the Industry’s First Hypervisor to be Validated by Microsoft, Offers Customers Expanded Support Options for Microsoft Applications

Sep.03, 2008 in Market Outlook

VMware ESX is the Industry’s First Hypervisor to be Validated by Microsoft,
Offers Customers Expanded Support Options for Microsoft Applications

VMware Lays Foundation for Broader Market Penetration by Giving Customers Access
to Support for Software For All Major Microsoft Applications such as Microsoft
Exchange Server, SQL Server, SharePoint Server and others across Virtualized
Environments

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sep 03, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — VMware, Inc. (VMW), the global
leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, today
announced it has qualified its industry-leading VMware ESX hypervisor under the
Microsoft Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP). VMware ESX 3.5 update
2 (ESX 3.5u2) is the first hypervisor to be listed under the program, providing
VMware customers who run Windows Server and Microsoft applications with access to
cooperative support from Microsoft and VMware.

“Virtualization is now well within the IT mainstream and our relationship with
Microsoft underscores how far virtualization has come by providing VMware ESX
users with access to valuable support for their virtualized Microsoft
applications,” said Bogomil Balkansky, senior director of product marketing,
VMware. “VMware and Microsoft are working cooperatively to help ensure that our
joint customers can employ the benefits of virtualization along with the peace of
mind that professional product support can provide.”

Microsoft’s Server Virtualization Validation Program enables VMware and other
software providers to test and validate their virtualization software to run
Windows Server 2008 and previous versions of Windows Server. Under this program,
Microsoft offers cooperative technical support to customers running Windows
Server on validated, non-Microsoft server virtualization software, such as VMware
ESX 3.5 update 2. Customers with support policies in place, and running Windows
Server-based applications on VMware ESX 3.5u2, can receive cooperative technical
support from Microsoft. VMware also offers an extra layer of protection for
customers, outside of Microsoft’s Server Virtualization Validation Program, who
work directly with VMware for support. The additional protection is a part of the
VMware Premier Support contract with Microsoft that enables VMware to escalate
application issues rapidly and work directly with Microsoft engineers to expedite
resolution.

“As virtualization emerges as a mainstream technology for customers of all sizes,
it’s important that they can depend on these technologies to work smoothly with
the rest of their infrastructure,” said Zane Adam, senior director of integrated
virtualization at Microsoft Corp. “Microsoft established the Server Virtual
Validation Program to help ensure customers have a consistent and productive
support experience when using validated non-Microsoft virtualization software,
regardless of the vendor.We are pleased that VMware has joined the Server Virtual
Validation Program and along with the other participants can bring the benefits
of interoperability to our customers.”

“Microsoft Exchange is an essential application for us; we have over 50,000
Exchange 2007 mailboxes running on VMware ESX,” said Adrian Jane, infrastructure
and operations manager, University of Plymouth in England. “Application
performance and availability have been outstanding, but the lack of formalized
application support was a concern. With ESX now SVVP-validated, we can reap all
the benefits of virtualization without having to make any tradeoffs in
application support. It’s perfect for us. And from a broader perspective, SVVP
support will make it much easier for us to move ahead with our
virtualization-first policy on future application deployments.”

Today’s move is expected to be particularly compelling for VMware’s tens of
thousands of small and medium-size business (SMB) customers. Many of these
customers turned to virtualization for the dramatic cost savings that
virtualization can provide by reducing hardware requirements and power
consumption.

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