VMware Prepares Zimbra Email Appliances for Partners

It’s been less than a month since VMware officially acquired Zimbra — the open source email platform — from Yahoo. But VMware isn’t standing still. Jim Morrisroe, VP and GM of VMware’s Zimbra division, says the company is preparing software appliances that combine virtualization with Zimbra. They should arrive by Q2 2010. Plus, VMware’s channel will soon promote Zimbra offerings. But that’s not all…

In this FastChat video, Morrisroe describes the first few weeks working for VMware; what Zimbra channel partners should expect next; plus key priorities for 2010. Take a look:

The video covers:

• 0:00: Introduction
• 0:15: Zimbra’s first few weeks under VMware’s ownership
• 0:50: Zimbra’s message to channel partners and hosting partners
• 1:31: Creative packages for VMware partners to promote Zimbra
• 1:52: How Zimbra will leverage VMware teams and the VMware channel
• 2:12: The first VMware-Zimbra solutions
• 2:25: Top Zimbra priorities for 2010
• 3:02: Here come the appliances — collaboration, high availability, and disaster recovery
• 3:26: Where to find more information on Zimbra
• 3:52: Conclusion

Partner Reality Check

When rumors first started about VMware buying Zimbra, plenty of pundits overlooked the fact that Zimbra had an active channel partner program in place.

Instead of getting into the SaaS market, Zimbra lined up more than 450 hosting partners to promote Zimbra as a service. Also, Zimbra was highly ranked on The VAR Guy’s 2009 Open Source 50 survey, which tracks the most promising open source partner programs. (The 2010 survey runs through the end of March.)

Looking ahead, Zimbra and VMware hope to chip away at Microsoft Exchange and Hosted Exchange market share. But there’s plenty of competition on multiple fronts. In addition to Microsoft’s own cloud and BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite) efforts, dozens of  partners promote hosted Exchange to end-customers. Plus, open source upstarts like Open-Xchange seem to be catching on with channel partners as well.

Still, Zimbra now has a powerful enterprise parent in VMware. The VAR Guy will be watching to see if the VMware-Zimbra honeymoon turns into a successful long-term marriage.