Virtualization can't be ignored--it's in the news on what seems like a daily basis. Gartner says that it will be the highest impact trend in the infrastructure and operations market through 2012. But virtualization has been around for decades, so why is it an imperative now?
Virtualization wasn't utilized in the past because:
- Jurisdictions
were focused on fixing problems more often than creating efficiencies
- Virtualization
technologies weren't perceived to be mature enough for enterprise
application
- Government
IT environments lacked sophistication/maturity levels needed
- Purchasing
a new machine was much easier and cheaper
- IT
consumption was lower--space was relatively abundant
- Embarrassing utilization rates were not widely published
As environments and technologies have matured, virtualization is being seen a solution that addresses a variety of issues simultaneously:
- Green
IT pressures
- Consolidation
and centralization
- Space
and energy consumption
- Disaster recovery and emergency preparedness
- Cost savings and increased efficiencies
- Political pressures stemming from an increased focus on analytics and spend tracking
As long as IT
consumption continues to explode and there is a focus on efficiencies (down
budgets, green initiatives etc.) virtualization will continue to be a
convenient, effective prescription.