Virtualization is no longer the black sheep of the IT world – the one that everyone loves to pick on, but that only some companies bothered actually talking to. Now, virtualization is everywhere, and companies have to slug it out over who will reign supreme in the virtual and cloud world. VMware has long be a leader in the field, but Microsoft has recently been coming on strong with its Hyper-V virtual machine platform, intended to compete with VMware’s virtual machine tools. As the economy has recovered, Microsoft has been gaining ground, and the fight does not look as uneven as it once did.

The simple fact is that virtualized set-ups are more expensive in reality than in many predictions, and as the “sprawl and stall” effect becomes more common – companies buy up huge tracts of virtual server “land,” which is poorly organized and eventually starts to degrade performance – they are looking for ways to streamline operations.

What some are finding is that Microsoft is pushing hard to have virtualization regarded as a feature of the operating system, and they have begun to develop options – such as System Center 2012 – that will manage both VMware and Hyper-V machines. With both companies trending strongly in the market, it is likely that many companies will have to deal with both of them at some time, and run their systems concurrently. A provider that can not only offer reliable virtual technology but simple tools to manage both its own hypervisor as well as of other companies will have a distinct advantage in the new market, and Microsoft seems to be taking the gloves off when it comes to getting this kind of virtualization out and onto VMware’s doorstep.