The increasing adoption of virtualization technologies has left hardware manufacturers in something of a bind: while it's clearly an aggressively expanding trend which they would like to jump on the bandwagon with, by its nature it is a trend which obviates much of the need for their wares. With processing capacities of modern computers far outstripping even the poorly written and bloated software we run on them, virtualization is allowing one machine to serve for two or more in many scenarios. That has the prospect, at least, of halving the market for servers.

HP has decided to embrace the possibility that, if they may sell fewer machines, at least they can sell high-end machines with the horsepower and features that virtual machines need. They've also decided to aggressively pursue the services and software business, a move demonstrated by their recent acquisition of services giant EDS. So instead of hiding their head in the sand, the company has gone on the attack, pointing out that while 86% of technology decision makers have implemented virtualization projects, less than a third think of the projects as business tools.

With today's press blitz, HP is suggesting that by using their hardware and their services and tools, IT departments can better leverage virtualization technologies. Announcing new virtualization-specific functions in their service management software, and pointing out both optimized server hardware and thin-client hardware, the company touts its offerings to help business overcome the hurdles identified in a commissioned study to successfully implementing virtualization as a business advantage instead of just a technology gimmick.

I think HP is on the mark in its efforts, but they are just marketing efforts at the end of the day; virtualization is relatively new and untested as a business tool, and the rates of adoption their study identifies aren't surprising at this stage of the game. As businesses feel their way into the technology, they'll start using it more to their advantage, as they have with every other major technology that has come down the pipe.