"In a keynote at VMworld Europe, chief technology officer (CTO) Stephen Herrod unveiled the firm’s mobile virtualisation platform, explaining that phones featuring hypervisors - the technology that allows virtualisation - will have two main functions.
The first enables users to back up their system and data on a virtual machine, so if they get a new phone they can easily transfer contacts and other information regardless of the operating system. 'What data is on a device will outlive the device,' he said.
This will also make developing mobile applications much easier, as developers can embed it on a virtual machine with a thin operating system of its own, removing the need to ensure interoperability with different systems.
The second use involves running multiple virtual machines on a single phone. This will let users run two profiles at the same time. 'People don’t want to carry two phones – one approved by IT, and one that’s a bit cooler,' said Herrod, who added that this move was another step towards 'employee-owned IT.'"
