The server virtualization software market is expected to grow to as much as $7 billion in 2011 from $800 million in 2006. Current penetration of virtualization on installed x86 servers is estimated at just 6% today. And most analyst firms conclude that VMware has control of an estimated 80% of the current server virtualization market. Whether you believe those numbers or not, it remains quite evident that VMware The server virtualization software market is expected to grow to as much as $7 billion in 2011 from $800 million in 2006. Current penetration of virtualization on installed x86 servers is estimated at just 6% today. And most analyst firms conclude that VMware has control of an estimated 80% of the current server virtualization market. Whether you believe those numbers or not, it remains quite evident that VMware is the dominant player in this space. But as it always happens, there are others gunning for position against the top player, looking for ways to gain more of a percentage control of their own. One way for virtualization platform providers to do that is to make sure they get onto the server hardware before it ships to the end customer. And so, we watch as all the key virtualization platform providers begin to rally around the hardware vendors and sign various partnership agreements to try and provide customers with a choice of platform – and in many cases, pre-installed and ready to go out of the box. “End users are asking for a choice in server virtualization solutions as they look to refresh and ‘virtualize’ their data centers at multiple tiers including servers, network, and storage,” said Mark Bowker, Analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group. Fujitsu Computer Systems Corporation announced a technology partnership with the application delivery giant, Citrix. According to a recent press release, the agreement has Citrix providing support for its XenServer Enterprise Edition virtualization platform running on the Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX300 S3 server, and the two companies also plan on collaborating on future products. This model Fujitsu server is now Citrix certified for XenServer Enterprise Edition.“As a leader in bringing virtualization solutions to market, Fujitsu is continually looking for new ways to ensure our customers have the ability to choose a virtualization technology that meets their specific needs,” said Richard McCormack, senior vice president of marketing for Fujitsu Computer Systems. “A technology partnership with Citrix provides Fujitsu customers with access to a highly reliable, industry-leading virtualization platform, while companies first looking to implement virtualization now have a powerful, fully tested combination of Citrix XenServer software and Fujitsu hardware to turn to.” Virtual Iron Software, a provider of enterprise-class server virtualization software solutions, also made an announcement about their new worldwide authorized reseller agreement with Dell Corporation. Dell will work through Virtual Iron’s distribution channel and resell the software to end-users as part of an extensive portfolio of server virtualization and storage offerings. According to the company, Dell servers provide an ideal platform for Virtual Iron. And virtualization is a key component of Dell’s scaleable enterprise strategy that aims to help customers cost-effectively scale, improve utilization and simplify IT operations. “Many Dell customers are leveraging Virtual Iron’s comprehensive virtualization capabilities to improve their operational efficiency and business agility,” said Mike Grandinetti, Chief Marketing Officer at Virtual Iron Software. “These companies are able to take advantage of comprehensive virtualization capabilities in a very easy to use and easy to afford solution. Working with Dell, we are able to further enhance this value proposition and bring enterprise-class capabilities to a much larger segment of the market.” Software Development