Lindsey Warner / 19-June-2014
Demands on IT departments are changing, from increased pressures to implement BYOD policies for users to scalability issues, and expanding on virtualization remains a key step for laying a foundation for a small to midmarket organization’s infrastructure.
A VMware-sponsored study by Forrester has found that the majority of organisations make the move to virtualization when it was time for a major hardware refresh to avoid the cost of buying a large quantity of physical machines. Other common reasons include a major operating system upgrade or major application licence renewal.
Other than cost savings, there are the four key gains to be made by expanding your virtualization plans.
1. Improved Business Continuity
Up to 60% of small businesses that suffer an IT disaster never open their doors again. Virtualization creates a highly available environment: two thirds of IT professionals have seen enhanced continuity as a result. Recovery times are also improved by simpler replication of data.
2. Simplified IT Management
Nine out of ten IT departments spend at least half of their time on routine tasks, such as adding new users and managing hardware. Virtualization simplifies these processes through intelligent automation and reducing manual overheads, by proactively detecting and resolving issues before they happen.
3. Reallocation of IT Resources to More Strategic Uses
Spending less time on basic administrative work enables your team to concentrate on strategic tasks, which deliver important ROI gains. 66% of IT managers report operational improvements through more efficient support and management within their teams.
4. Enhanced Business Responsiveness
Virtualization enables you to scale more rapidly, align with strategic business demands, allocate system resources on the fly and improve infrastructure availability and reliability. Taken as a whole, these dynamic principles are essential for the successful evolution of IT from a back office infrastructure concern to the engine-room of business innovation.
To find out more about how expanding the virtualisation of your IT environment could benefits your organisation, call us on 0345 095 7000.
