Microsoft’s 3rd party Server Virtualization Validation Program

I had a chance to speak with Aaron Holzer of Microsoft about a program they’ve been working on for quite some time, the 3rd party Server Virtualization Validation Program (SVVP). Customers have made it clear to Microsoft that they expect support for Microsoft software even if it is running in a virtual environment hosted by someone else’s virtualization software. Microsoft, like most suppliers of software, made it clear that they couldn’t support software offered by others since they didn’t have access to the source code, had no expertise with that software and couldn’t test each and every combination of hardware and software in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Enter Microsoft’s SVVP…
It’s clear that Microsoft management finally understood what their best customers were demanding and started to put together a program that would allow 3rd parties to validate their software using a Microsoft developed testing procedure. Once validated, Microsoft would be able to support its software and 3rd party support issues could be handed off to that 3rd party.