VMAN update from Symantec ManageFusion 2008

While at ManageFusion, I had an opportunity to speak with Valerie Kane, VP of Marketing for the Distributed Management Task Force, better known as DMTF. Although our discussion wandered down the hallways of the history of the computer companies that employed us, we touched on some very important issues for organizations using virtualization technology.

DMTF's work, by the way, is extremely important. Cross platform, cross vendor, cross application management standards can make the difference between having silos of computing and having an integrated environment. If I review the results of the ROI and TCO studies my team and I executed at IDC, hardware and software, when combined, typically made up less than 25% of the total cost/investment. Staff related costs made up 50% to 70% of the total! Interoperability standards that reduce the challenges of integrating the datacenter could product significant savings.

Here are some of the DMTF initiatives we discussed.

• Virtualization Management (VMAN) -- DMTF has recently introduced management standards to address the complexity of managing a virtualized environment.
• Open Virtualization Format (OVF) -- OVF is a DMTF standard for packaging and distributing virtual clients and virtual servers as software appliances. This standard is designed to enhance portability, simplify installation and management.
• System Management Architecture for Server Hardware (SMASH) -- DMTF has developed a suite of specifications to define the semantics and protocols necessary to unify management of the datacenter.

I don't think that the small space available in a blog post could possibly do justice to the work of a group composed of 50 companies working together to create standards.

If you're interested in this important subject, I urge you to visit DMTF's website.