In my post "Virtualization - Rethink Virtualization in Business Terms", I said - "[Virtualization is] a huge field with a great deal of market(ing) opportunity, AND a great deal of expectation..."

Its true when you consider virtualization and the resultant requirements in terms of: cloud computing, data center consolidation, servers, desktops, mobile devices, storage, networking, even file & print and beyond. Yet even if you follow my thinking, "secure virtualization" seems to be getting off to a slow start. Perhaps this is because it is seen as the standard security issue to be dealt with as such... 

Alone, virtualization is a way of improving cost management options amongst other key business drivers.

Alone, security is often either expected as a core of a solution or ignored.

Putting them together in a single project, especially one focused on cost reduction, risks taking the path of least resistance - i.e. We'll worry about security when it's an issue....

Sure, sounds like a plan (sarcasm)

To me, while virtualization is a hot topic and an easier sell, virtualization still has several traits similar to the security market and related implementations-

• The concept or requirement can be applied to almost any situation. Sometimes twisting to suit, the requirements can vary significantly depending on context.  See the initial VMWare announcement around VMSafe. Originally this was muted as a great security capability, but even a cursory examination showed that to bewishful thinking. In reality it did nothing much more than allow for basic monitoring. The long term goal however showed greater promise and if you check out the current status of VMSafe you can see that VMWare have made important steps to improve VMSafe's capabilitites, however, in reality, they are missing a critical part of the effort - standardization and interopability.
• There are a bunch of startups focusing on virtual computing with a security bent all trying to get your attention to solve parts of the problem - see Trend Micro's interesting acquistion of Third Brigade.
• Consolidation is an ongoing mode - see Oracle's acquistion of Virtual Iron (and Sun for that matter).

HP plans to help mitigate some of the issues like we do with our  HP Secure Advantage and HP Security Services. Along with HP's recent announcement around new Hardware, Software and Services Help Customers Realize the Promise of Virtualization, HP is working with closely with customers and partners to ensure we can do better, and we will.

This will become critical as we are considering the easier migration of services to the cloud, especially once they are virtualized.