A few more questions (and others specific to vCSD) about security to kick around at VMWorld 2010, as the VMware security spear continues to sharpen:

• Where are the security proof points – vShield family of security products, vCSD, RSA Archer for VMWare, etc. are all announced, so what’s the expectation for customer commitments and implementations?
• What say you, CISO? How engaged is the CISO industry in these and other advancements in securing IT virtualization and the cloud?

I’m at VMworld and the announcement that Storwize is now an IBM company crossed my desk yesterday. I spent about 2 hours with Ed Walsh a few weeks ago reviewing his philosophy, approach and getting some details about Storwize and the history of the company that I didn’t know. In particular, Walsh went deep with me about his team and the US-based people he brought in. I don’t have all the details summarized and will be posting after VMworld but the interview was fascinating and I wanted to share the high level with you. 

First – here’s the announcement in case you haven’t seen it: 

Back a few months at EMC World 2010 in Boston, one of the more interesting proclamations about securing cloud computing came from Joe Tucci who said, and I’m paraphrasing “VMware is the tip of the security spear” for private cloud, and cloud computing in generation.  This make sense of course, given the important role of the hypervisor, in the this case vSphere, in providing secure multi-tenant operations for application workloads, virtual desktops, system administration, and ad hoc user computing.

This morning Dell announced a blockbuster tender offer to acquire all of 3PAR’s outstanding shares at $18 per share, an 87% premium over the company’s current stock price. This deal is a no-brainer for 3PAR. The company was growing fast, but not fast enough to turn down this offer. It was up against some major competition in EMC, Hitachi and IBM at the high end and this deal gives it the resources it needs to continue to make inroads into the installed bases of established players with much bigger R&D, sales, marketing and service juice. In the end, 3PAR got a good price and is closing the chapter on a great startup. Too bad – I loved 3PAR as an independent company – it just didn’t have the muscle to go it alone.