VMware Inc. 2008 Harvard Case Solution & Analysis

ASSUMPTIONS  AND COUNTER ASSUMPTIONS

The assumptions for any strategy are basically those assumptions which the strategy makers make to devise the strategic plan. However, these assumptions are not simply assumed but they are made on the basis of some solid grounds. The company has formed its current growth strategy of becoming the leading player in the software industry on the basis of the assumptions stated above. The assumptions below are however, based on certain grounds. The company will have based these assumptions as the foundation of their strategy by looking at the past history, the historical trends, and also some projections. However, they might not prove to be correct, therefore the assumptions are stated first and then their counter assumptions for each of the assumptions are stated below:

A GROWING INDUSTRY

The software industry is a growing industry. The management of the company had made their growth strategy for the company on this assumption. This industry will grow in future because of the rapid expansion of the virtualization technology. At the current stage this industry seems young and it has focused to just transform all computer resources into virtual machines. However, this assumption of the company might have an impact on it to achieve the stated objectives because Microsoft, the leading player had also entered this industry and targeted the virtualization technology.

TECHNOLOGY

Technology is the tool or system through which a firm can achieve competitive advantages in an industry and this is specifically true in the case of the software industry. The strategy of the company currently is based on the virtualization technology. This technology worked being creating replica of computer hardware and with those hardware the company created virtual machines. Therefore, this is also an important assumption regarding the strategy setting. However, the technology can also be imitated by the competitors such as Microsoft.

LEADERSHIP CHANGE

It was in 2008 when the management of the company thought to replace Greene with Maritz because the company wanted a leader in place who could achieve the target of double or triple sales over the next years. This leadership change was made because Maritz was a senior executive and had recently left Microsoft, so he had a very indepth operational experience and a lot of experience in managing and marketing the product offerings. However, the new options proposed for the strategy change might not well, as Maritz does not have the extensive knowledge regarding the background of the company.

CLOUD COMPUTING

The product offerings of the company included            the desktop products and the server products. The revenue from both of these products had increased significantly from 2005 to 2007. However, the management  if the company and also the leaders of the company believed that the desktop virtualization held a significant promise for the whole company in the future. Apart from that the leaders of VMware had based their strategy on the big potential opportunity of cloud computing front. However, if the company does not enter this area, it might be grasped away by one of its competitors.

DESKTOP VIRTUALIZATION

There are basically 2 types of desktop virtualization and it was in 2008 that the company offered 3 products that supported the first form of virtualization. These three products were player, workstation and fusion. The company had entered into the desktop virtualization business; however, it is a difficult business and a new business for the company that’s why it can pose many challenges for the company. The management had assumed that it could counter those challenges to make their strategy successful.

SERVICES

The services part of the company offered a great portion of the revenue for the company. The revenue coming from the services was also fixed than the revenue coming from the sale of the products. Therefore, the management of the company had the sound belief that the services market of the company would be stable and will remain robust. Therefore, it had made its strategy supportive by this assumption also.

ISV PARTNERS

The management of the company had created great goodwill in their ISV area. However, still the company was facing major challenges in this area also. The company was nevertheless, continuing to sell its products and different tools for the virtualization program and the company was doing this all very aggressively. Therefore, the company also had to counter the tension that was arising due to its ISV partners because the company was moving into their place.However, still the situation can worsen therefore; the company needs to be active regarding the actions of ISV partners.................................

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