Virtualisation set to dominate

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Infrastructure virtualisation will be the dominate technology in data centres within the next few years - and will save companies millions of pounds, according to a report by Butler Group.

According to the report, an organisation running 250 dual core servers could save £2 million over just three years. Moving from a full desktop PC infrastructure to a server-hosted desktop virtualisation solution across 1,000 computers could save £78,000 annually, while the use of application virtualisation technology to increase self-service and cut helpdesk calls could save £4,000 per 1,000 calls.

"Above all else, IT infrastructure virtualisation must be recognised as a technology that has evolved at the right moment in time due to the convergence of a number of influencing factors," said Roy Illsley, a senior research analyst with Butler Group and the author of the report. Such virtualisation is hitting a tipping point as three factors converge: the need to reduce energy use, the shift toward automation and the importance of agility to respond to market demands.

The increasing use of virtualisation will also be driven by newly released hardware from VMWare, which embeds the hypervisor into the server hardware. But Illsely said it will take some time for such technology to push virtualisation. "It's going to take some time to propagate through, as and when they buy new servers," Illsley said. "It could take 12 months to filter through."

The increasing dominance of virtualisation will require a cultural shift in business perspective, the report said. "One of the first things is to change the mindset of how to view resources," said Illsley, adding that IT is still too compartmentalised. "Moving to virtualised world, IT resources are pooled resources, and you get allocation based on importance."

Because of this, the way IT is organised, managed and used will have to change in order for companies to take full advantage of virtualisation, the report said.

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