By Roy Illsley, Principal Analyst, IT Software

VMware has been the force behind many of the server infrastructure virtualisation transformations that have taken place in the data centre over the last decade.

The infrastructure virtualization market is now reaching maturity, with about 50% of x86 data centres now virtualised, and VMware needed to extend its solutions to expand beyond server virtualization.

At VMWorld 2012 Europe, more than 8,000 delegates witnessed the shift in emphasis as VMware’s new CEO, Pat Gelsinger, announced the company’s move to become a heterogeneous data centre and cloud management vendor.

The other key announcement, following on from VMWorld US where VMware released the tools needed to build the software-defined data center (SDDC), was the move to provide the management tools needed to operationalize the SDDC. VMware also signaled a change in approach to end-user computing, focusing on the management and governance of applications …