My cynical side could argue that, as virtualization gets to operating in over 50% of servers (due sometime about 2012), VMware has to both keep gaining customers there, but also selling new kinds of value-added products.

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It is a value added feature that adds poker-like excitement to the selling process.

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It seems like a short time ago that Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, subject of the best-selling book Moneyball, first employed a new school of analysis that placed added value on statistics like on-base percentage while devaluing more traditional numbers like batting average and stolen bases.

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