December 2014 / January 2015 | Vol. 8 No. 1 VirtualizationReview.com 2015 READERS CHOICE AWARDS WINNER IT’S THAT TIME OFYEAR! Eggnog, presents and the products you like best. PLUS > VIRTUAL PREDICTIONS > DELL’S VDI STRATEGY > UNTANGLING VMWARE DRS VISIT VIRTUALIZATIONREVIEW.COM contents The objective is helping organizations accomplish their 6 goals; not to push any specifi c type of technology. By Dan Kusnetzky 2015Readers Choice Awards “Chromebook desktop ÌÌÌÌ Winner ÌÌÌÌ access looks especially promising, especially in the education market.” Garret Grajek, dinCloud 18 6 December 2014 / January 2015 | VIRTUALIZATION REVIEW | VOL. 7, NO. 2 FEATURES 11 Best Cloud Storage Product 15 Best Network 4 The 2015 Reader’s Choice 12 Best Cloud Security Product Virtualization Product Awards and Buyer’s Guide 12 Best Cloud Software Product 16 Best Virtualization Security Product You, the readers, have spoken. 13 Best Business Continuity Product Here are the virtualization and Best Converged 14 Best Virtualization 17 cloud computing products that Automation Product Infrastructure Product rock your world. Best Virtualization Training 15 Best Storage 17 6 Best Application Virtualization Product Virtualization Product 6 Best Server Virtualization Product Best Desktop Virtualization/ 7 18 2015 Virtualization Predictions COLUMNS Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Product What can you expect to happen 2 Editor’s Note: KEITH WARD in the virtualization and cloud 3 Expectations for 2015 8 Best Mobile Virtualization/ BYOD Product industries in the coming year? These 28 Dan’s Take: DAN KUSNETZKY experts weigh in with their forecasts. VDI: It’s All About the Apps, Stupid 8 Best Thin/Zero Client Computing Product Compiled by Keith Ward 30 Everyday Virtualization: RICK VANOVER Best Virtualization Management 8 Following the Rules: Using DRS Groups & Optimization Product 32 Take 5: TOM FENTON 10 Best Cloud Infrastructure/ Platform Product Tips for a Hyperconverged Appliance COVER IMAGE SHUTTERSTOCK.COM VirtualizationReview.com | Virtualization Review | December 2014/January 2015 | 1 ED NOTEWARD VIRTUALIZATIONREVIEW.COM December 2014 / January 2015 ■ VOL. 7 ■ NO. 5 EDITORIAL STAFF Editor in Chief Keith Ward Group Managing Editor Wendy Hernandez COLUMNISTS James Brown Tom Fenton Dan Kusnetzky Elias Khnaser Rick Vanover ART STAFF VP Art and Brand Design Scott Shultz KEITH WARD Associate Creative Director Scott Rovin PRODUCTION STAFF Director, Print & Online Production David Seymour 3 Expectations for 2015 Production Coordinator Teresa Antonio In this issue, you’ll fi nd a group of predictions for the virtualization and cloud ONLINE/DIGITAL MEDIA industry for the new year (see p. XX). In that spirit, I wanted to do my own VP Digital Strategy Becky Nagel Senior Site Administrator Shane Lee predictions for what we’re likely to see in 2015. Senior Front-End Rodrigo Muñoz The Internet of Things (IoT) becomes a real thing. I hate the phrase, and Dev/Designer the acronym. But what it actually is will truly take hold in the public consciousness, ADVERTISING AND SALES as well as business. Gartner Inc. recently predicted a 30 percent increase in Chief Revenue Offi cer Dan LaBianca “things,” or network-connected devices, for 2015; it estimates that nearly 5 billion Publisher Al Tiano Microsoft Account Manager Danna Vedder items will have become digitized and connected, from automobiles to vacuums to Advertising Sales Associate Tanya Egenolf maybe my coffee cup (what I wouldn’t give for a sensor that knew when my cup was empty and auto-refi lled it). For IT pros and C-level execs, it also means fi guring out how to build a business model around this explosion; not merely connecting the devices, but making money off of the new awareness those devices have. The cloud stops being a new thing. The cloud is so pervasive now that it’s President Henry Allain no longer cool. It’s not new, or Wow!, or anything like that. It’s an accepted fact VP Lead Services Division Michele Imgrund Director, Client Services & of our lives, not an add-on. IT departments no longer (for the most part) have to Webinar Production Tracy S. Cook fi ght to implement cloud technology at some level, whether it be public, private or Director, Audience Development & hybrid. Management has accepted it as a fact of life in 2015, so we’ll see even more Lead Generation Marketing Irene Fincher innovation in this area, along with lots of mergers as the fi eld undergoes some necessary consolidation. Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! The long, lingering economic malaise will lift, and companies, which have been wary about hiring during an uncertain time, will start to expand President & Chief Executive Offi cer Rajeev Kapur at a healthy rate. Many of those will be in the virtualization and cloud space, Chief Operating Offi cer Henry Allain meaning it’s a good time to upgrade your skills or get new ones. And if you’re Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Offi cer Richard Vitale employed already, think about asking for a raise. VR Executive Vice President Michael J. Valenti Virtualization Review Magazine (ISSN 1941-2843) is published four times a year (July, August/September, ID STATEMENT Vice President, Erik A. Lindgren October, and December/January) by 1105 Media, Inc., 9201 Oakdale Avenue, Ste. 101, Chatsworth, CA 91311. Complimentary Information Technology subscriptions are sent to qualifying subscribers. 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