ToutVirtual Enterprise Virtualization - A Proper Virtual World

Is Software Product Certification on Virtualization Today A Given?

March 25th, 2008

Know What Virtualization Is, But What Is Next? - Chapter 11

By now just about everyone that keeps track of how things are going on in virtualization circles has heard about the Symantec Antivirus and VMware Virtual Machine issue, right? Even I, am not sure I understand all the implications. But I can think of one question that is significant. How the heck did this happen? Even if the issue turns out to be a VMware issue and not a Symantec issue, or visa-versus, or something else, something just does not add up, some where, some how, this issue should have been caught? Let me be clear, I am not saying who is at fault; I am simply asking how this issue happened. I sincerely hope it is not a comedy of errors scenario. Furthermore, since this issue did happen, I expect some real changes coming to how software publishers do quality assurance testing and what their respective clients will demand, yes, demand.

Do all software publishers test on virtualized platforms now? I can not answer this question, but absolutely every software publisher should. Does or has your favorite publishers of software test of virtualization platforms? Do you know the answer to this question? Ok, which ones? If not, do you have the right to expect it? Yes, of course you do. I don’t know what specific publishers do or do not do in reference to quality assurance testing, but I do know that with this recent issue with Symantec Antivirus and VMware, every vendor agreement in every major corporation is being reviewed and rewritten. It is something that corporations using enterprise solutions will demand, no? You bet they will. In fact, I will go an additional step beyond this basic requirement. I believe that corporations will demand testing schedules, explicit test plans, and even develop customized testing models that they will expect, no correction, will demand software publishers explicitly execute to enterprise class expectations, including virtualization platforms.

Now software publishers that refuse to do this, even hardware vendors that refuse to do this for BIOS and firmware updates, will see key enterprise clients walk. Yes, walk. There is no room to debate this, especially for financial, government, and other key industries. I can hear the inflexible vendors crying and moaning from all the way here, in front of my monitor as I am typing this text. Testing costs time and money, this is unreasonable, etc., etc. Bull. I can also see flexible vendors using their improved test models, that now explicitly include virtualization platforms, as part of their over all marketing efforts. Why not? As an enterprise customer, would you not want to know that a given software publisher is actually using the same virtualization platform that you are using today? Talk about common sense in product evaluation and selection. I can see any lack of testing on virtualization nailing a software publisher, in fact, we may even see a software publisher going bankrupt by ignoring leading virtualization platforms as a viable for overall product certification.

Why did this situation happen? Talking in a hypothetical context? Well, at some point someone in the publisher side of the industry decided myopic vision is a cost effective of course. This was justified? Sure, virtualization is so good, and so stable, and so consistent, that we, the trusted software publisher just never needed to worry about it testing on any virtualization platform. Oh, right, sure! How does that work for you? If you look at this issue, from the outside looking in, the lack of testing on at least the most popular virtualization platforms is more than just an honest oversight? Nuts. What publisher is not using virtualization just like the rest of us in the industry to save costs in lab or quality assurance infrastructure? How about the reverse scenario? Software publishers only tests on virtualization, never on hardware? Now that would be insane as well, but given the level of virtualization today, it would not be quite a complete surprise, not to me.

As I said before, I am not sure what happened or how, in reference to recent developments or should I say difficulties that Symantec and VMware encountered. But if this is not a very loud, obvious, and intense wake up call to all software publishers, that the significance of certification testing on virtualization platforms must not be overlooked, then what is? Having one or more enterprise customers smack the next software publisher, which fails to learn from recent history, in the preverbal head? No, not preverbal head, but profit margin., after all lose of revenue is the most painful impact, right?

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