VMware's mobile virtualisation platform promises to play an
important role in the mobile enterprise. Last week, the company
unveiled VMware Mobile Virtualisation Platform (MVP), a software
product embedded on a mobile phone, that decouples the applications
and data from the underlying hardware. It will compete head to head
with alternatives from Research in Motion, Microsoft, Nokia with
Symbian,
Google Android and the iPhone's MacOS.
Paul Maritz, president and chief executive officer of VMware,
says, "By abstracting the applications and data from the hardware
itself, we expect that virtualisation will pave the way for
innovative applications and services for phone users."
If VNWare is successful, businesses will be able to write an
application once, and install it on smartphones from different
suppliers, says Dale Vile, managing director of Freeform Dynamics.
Such technology is not new - companies such as Tao Networks and
Dexterra offer similar products. But he says, "VMWare, is
well-known in the enterprise market, which should make it easier to
sell to enterprise users."
This strategy has already worked for Microsoft, which promotes
its .net Compact Framework mobile development platform for Windows
Mobile 6.0, by making it compatible with .net for Windows.
Similarly, Rim allows enterprise users to access applications such
as SAP via the company's Blackberry Enterprise Server software.
VMWare, on the other hand, is promising that its Mobile
Virtualisation Platform will be platform-independent and support
mobile operating systems including Windows CE 5.0 and 6.0, Linux
2.6.x, Symbian 9.x, eCos, µITRON NORTi and µC/OS-II.
Ovum analyst Laurent Lachent, however, warns that some
developers may be reluctant to switch to the new platform.
"Software developers already creating applications for the
Blackberry, Microsoft Compact Framework, Symbian, Google Android
and iPhone are unlikely to switch to VMWare."
Users looking to make enterprise applications mobiles, will need
to decide whether they take the Microsoft or Rim approach with a
single hardware/software platform or deploy technology such VMware
Mobile Virtualisation Platform.