Virtualization for Growing Businesses

The term virtualization doesn't need any introduction to anyone. It's amongst the hottest buzzwords today, and the first question that comes to the mind of any CIO is whether to go for it or not. But this question can only be answered by first answering whether you really need it.

Who needs virtualization?

The key aim of adopting virtualization is to improve efficiency in the data center. Virtualization brings in efficiency by putting more load on lesser hardware, so that it becomes easier to manage, consumes lesser power and physical space. But that still doesn't mean that

every organization needs virtualization. Everybody needs efficiency, but virtualization may not be the best way to bring it. So for an organization that doesn't have a lot of IT equipment, it might be cheaper to continue using it, or perhaps outsource it to, say a SaaS provider. Let the SP take care of the management of all your hardware resources, so that you can focus more on your business. A lot of small organizations would fit into this category (unless they are software development houses, BPOs, etc where IT usage is heavey), and therefore may not really need virtualization.

But if you're a growing business, and are likely to add more intelligent workforce in the workplace, for whom you'll need to provision IT equipment, then your organization could be a prime candidate for virtualization. In such a case, you'll plan your IT setup to be virtualization ready, so that it's highly efficient from day one. The sweet spot here again has to be determined by checking how much would it cost to deploy your own hardware for running enterprise apps vs outsourcing it to a Cloud Computing SP.

Last but not the least (because they're always taken as the first example for virtualization) are organizations with a lot of bloatware--lots of IT equipment (servers, storage, networking) in the data center, which is taking up lots of physical space, consuming a lot of power, and remaining underutilized most of the time. This organization would be a prime candidate to go for virtualization. So you'll need to calculate how much you're spending in running all that equipment, and compare it against the cost of bringing in virtualization. If the cost is less than the cost of managing it all, then you obviously know the answer.

It's not necessary that every large organization requires virtualization. If you're a large manufacturing house, but most of your workforce is sitting on the assembly line, then you may not need it. But even if you're a mid-sized organization with a moderate to heavy IT workload, and growing, then you should seriously consider virtualization.

In the pages to follow, we've covered everything you need to know about virtualization and why you need it--the technology, the products, the cost, and benefits you can achieve.