How do you make a grab for a bigger slice of the virtualization market in the face of VMware’s expansive portfolio? By going in whole hog.

The software company is undergoing a product realignment, corralling all of its virtualization technologies under the Oracle Virtualization banner in a product development and branding exercise that, if all goes according to plan, will help the company snag business from the market leader. It could also determine how other providers market their wares — away from point solutions, that is.

As its new “desktop-to-datacenter” mantra suggests, Oracle is repositioning its portfolio as an integrated and interoperable suite of virtualization technologies that encompass servers, desktops, apps and storage.  Sure, IT folks may scream “vendor lock-in,” but the strategy does provide companies with a one-stop supplier for their server and IT consolidation projects. Fortunately for Oracle, it’s able to back up the move with a full-fledged slate of software — much of it from Sun, mind you. This includes Oracle VM Server, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, Oracle VM Storage Connect and Sun Ray, among others.

Though there were doubts, it looks like Oracle’s acquisition of Sun is starting to crystallize into a real data center strategy. Let the games begin!