The first step toward understanding VDC-OS is to properly define the term. It's not a product, but rather a category of software, a generic term for a flexible, agile datacenter, Balkansky explains. "Just like 'operating system' is a category no one owns, [VDC-OS] is a category," he says. "The brand name continues to be VMware Virtual Infrastructure [VI]." Balkansky further compares it to the operating system being the category, and Windows and Linux being brands within the category. "VDC-OS is the category, VI is the product," Balkansky says.
"There are a lot of ecosystem products that play a crucial role in VDC-OS ... Being partner-friendly has always been an imperative for us."
The paradigm shift will occur when an admin sets parameters for an application, and VDC-OS does the rest, Balkansky explains. "The sys admin world will be changed. To deploy an application, [the administrator] will specify the service levels the application requires: availability, security, scalability. [Whether an app] needs five-nines availability, security-it needs to scale to this point. Then the infrastructure that supports and runs the application will interpret policies, execute and guarantee service levels, and do it at the lowest total cost of ownership [TCO] possible. TCO is really a parameter" in VDC-OS, Balkansky adds. 
Read the full interview by Keith Ward over at Virtualization Review magazine.
