NORWALK, Conn., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Siemens IT Solutions and Services has concluded a new partnership agreement with VMware to deliver innovative virtualization solutions to the marketplace. The agreement between Siemens IT Solutions and Services and VMware includes developing new offers and implementing a common marketing and sales strategy, and will allow joint customer acquisition.

VMware was a key partner with Siemens in its largest virtualization transformation and project yet completed. Siemens utilized VMware virtualization technology to help transform the Siemens global IT presence into a fully dynamic environment. Through that effort, the two companies have forged very close ties and continue to engage in ongoing product development and testing for their customers.

Also through that effort, Siemens has been able to:

• Consolidate 11 compute locations into 2
• Virtualize 10,948 servers and 9,600 applications
• Standardize on storage utility, application assessment, integrated lifecycle services and standard services catalog
  

In doing so, they were able to achieve cost-savings and process efficiencies such as:

• 17:1 Server Compute reduction
• 30% Power and cooling reduction across sample environments
• 45% Floor space reduction through consolidation and virtualization
• Management and administrative cost reductions of 25% - 35%
• Accommodation of application lifecycle and disaster recovery services
  

"Our implementation of VMware technology provides an excellent platform for VMware customers to evolve toward full virtualization in a simple, cost-effective way," said John Hill, Chief Technology Officer for Siemens IT Solutions and Services. "We've implemented virtualization from data centers to the desktop," he said, "and our customers find their IT organizations becoming cheaper, faster and more reliable. We will continue to help our customers improve their speed, agility and flexibility in order to effectively compete on a global basis."

The global economic downturn has increased pressure on companies around the world to reduce IT costs and improve IT service delivery. Virtualization and cloud computing are two emerging megatrends with considerable potential for offering more robust and effective services at a lower cost.

Siemens and VMware are now maximizing their strengths in the management of IT infrastructures and the provisioning of virtualization solutions to deliver more robust product and service offerings to current and future customers. In addition to the Siemens AG transformation, the two companies have already successfully implemented virtualization solutions for several high-profile companies. With those successes, the two companies are looking to drive expansion of their customer base through this partnership.

"Siemens understands that virtualization is not just a project, but an evolution to a more results-oriented IT approach that helps IT run at the speed of business," said Scott Aronson, vice president of global accounts and vCloud market development, VMware. "VMware and Siemens are pushing the boundaries of that evolution, and we value the strong relationship between our companies. As a key global partner, Siemens is simplifying customer IT environments using VMware technology to provide a more efficient, flexible and reliable IT service. We are excited to work with Siemens as we continue to build a cloud computing service for their customers based on the VMware platform."

"Partnering with virtualization industry leader VMware complements our IT consulting business perfectly," said Hill. "It allows us to offer a best-of-breed technology to our customers and provide world-class sustainable services in both system integration and outsourcing. Both companies understand that virtualization is about far more than simply saving money. It has the potential to transform both IT and much larger business processes. It can absolutely change the way business is managed," said Hill. "By using VMware's leading edge technology, Siemens will continue to deliver innovative solutions and services and intelligently guide our customers through the Virtualization Evolution."

About Siemens IT Solutions and Services

Siemens IT Solutions and Services is an internationally leading provider of IT solutions and services. It covers the entire IT service chain from a single source, from consulting to system integration, right through to the management of IT infrastructures. In addition, Siemens IT Solutions and Services extends the range of offerings of the Siemens sectors to include software developments and IT solutions. With its comprehensive know-how and industry-specific knowledge, Siemens IT Solutions and Services provides measurable added value for its customers. The Siemens division employs around 42,000 people and posted annual sales of about $6.7B USD in fiscal year 2008. More information at http://www.usa.siemens.com/it-solutions .

The use of the word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

SOURCE Siemens IT Solutions and Services