CIO — I'm in Korea this week to keynote at the IDG "Virtualization in Action" conference, and I observed a fascinating disconnect while here.

First, and this should be no surprise, the conference could just as easily be titled "Cloud Computing in Action." (Indeed, my speech was titled "Creating a CIO Cloud Computing Action Plan"). The fact is, most conversations about server virtualization these days turn into cloud conversations — despite the fact that most surveys show that typical IT organizations are no more than 40% virtualized inside the data center. I've long said that "virtualization is not a product, it's a journey." By this I mean that once one has begun using virtualization, the additional functionality available by taking the next step of the journey is usually irresistible. And the step after that.

Consequently, most conversations about server virtualization these days inevitably lead to cloud computing, and this conference is no different. And that's what leads to the disconnect.

However, before I jump into that, I want to share a fascinating anecdote we heard from another speaker, Raj Dhingra, GM of Desktop Virtualization for Citrix. As part of his discussion about the move to computing on a variety of devices, he shared this story about the iPad: in an unnamed Silicon Valley chip company, someone demo'd an iPad to the company's CIO. A day later he bought an iPad and began to do all of his work on it. He showed it to the CEO and a few days later the CEO had an iPad and began to do all *his* work on it. A few weeks later and the CEO has arranged for all 6,000 employees of the company to get iPads!

Cloud Just One of Several Revolutions

This anecdote aligns well with the trend we discuss with our clients, which is the fracturing of the device universe. The old desktop/laptop model is splintering, with those devices being joined by smartphone and now tablets. The thing is, it's not going to stop there. The spread of computing into devices has only started, and soon computing will be performed by things we will barely consider to qualify as a device — not to mention sensors and actuators.

The general theme to be picked up by this anecdote is that the relatively well-ordered computing universe of a few years ago is being rapidly transformed by a revolution in client devices, which is being matched by a revolution in computing services, as traditional data center computing is being supplemented (or, depending upon the individual IT organization, displaced) by cloud computing.

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