We here at VMGuru.nl hope you all had a proper start of 2011. We sure did!

But what will 2011 bring us? Some curtains have been lifted a little. We know we can expect a brand new version of vSphere in 2011. But what features will vSphere 5 have. Personally I hope we will finally see a vSphere Client for Linux/OSX with this version.

We will certainly see Citrix and Microsoft push the boundaries more and more in the desktop virtualization area. But do you think we will finally see the major shift to 64 bit in this field too? It has been predicted for years and years (some folks even mention 128 bit systems in the near future).

Furthermore, will VDI prove to be a hype and only take a max of 10% of all desktops or will it grow? Will the cloud push through in Europe in 2011? Will Citrix still dominate the SBC market? Will Microsoft finally present a proper enterprise class hypervisor?

I think VDI will catch on more, but I’m not convinced it will replace the fat client scenario. How can VMware put a better concept into the market using View? What features will we see in 2011 in the new View version? There are a lot of bottlenecks to be solved in VDI scenario’s. IOPS and WAN demands might be too high in the current solutions, but what will future versions bring us. Will Windows 8 bring the enlightenment we hope for? Or will another platform push through? Maybe OSX??

vSphere 5 will definitely bring us more. Things that really make storage transparent, help you manage your environment even better and the last dots on the i when it comes to platform virtualization. Also, I think we will see a tighter integration of View into your general virtual infrastructure when it comes to management and monitoring. Also, I’d love VMware to finally bring us that VI Client for Linux/OSX.

Cloud is a different story. The biggest problem for cloud computing isn’t technical, in my opinion. It is the cultural factor. Questions like “where is my data”, “who as access to it besides me” and more, will be the biggest jump to make. In some countries, this will be the main reason why the adoption rate of cloud computing is not as high as to be expected. For example, I expect the adoption of cloud computing in Germany to start very slow, while in the US it will be much higher.

How about Project Horizon? Will this change the industry as VMware expects? Although I do think that such an integrated solution is what a lot of companies are looking for, I doubt that most of them are really ready for it. You really need to have your processes and procedures well documented, in place and fully functional before you can successfully implement such a solution. But most of all, I’m curious what the final pricing will be.

So what do you think? What will be the hot item of 2011? Am I wrong in some of my thoughts? Let us know what you think!