Devoted to hardware, software, IT issues, and information technology management

I think server virtualization would be much more prevalent and more heavily adopted if software vendors weren't such a pain about supporting their applications on a virtual server.  I can think of a few companies, including M$, that seem to have an issue with their products operating in such an environment.

Now I can understand a company explaining they haven't tested their product on a virtual server and willing to qualify the application, but what I have no patience for is someone just stating "we don't support it and we won't be able honor your expensive support contract if you have a configuration issue or functionality problem".

I heard a good piece of advice a recent VMware Users Group (VMUG) meeting here in Orlando and that is it may be necessary for the customer to encourage the software vendor to support virtualization.  This will most likely require commitment by management to present a united front to the vendor, but it can be done.  It may just be that the vendor has to be educated about the "black box" that is virtualization and once their comfort level has been increased this will be a non-issue.

If the vendor is still uncomfortable with virtualization, you could always install/configure the software product on a physical server, perform a Physical to Virtual (P2V) conversion using something like VMware Converter and I expect the software will continue to function oblivious to the fact that it is now running on a virtual server.  If you encounter a problem and the vendor balks, you can perform a Virtual to Physical (V2P) conversion and resolve the issue.  You could always try the P2V again once the issue if fixed.

If your business is serious about adopting server virtualization for any of the myriad benefits; communicate that to your vendors.  Explain that server virtualization isn't going away, is integral to your success and that you expect them to be onboard.