Embrace virtualisation or risk falling behind

It may not come as a surprise to some that virtualisation is not being embraced as knowledgably by companies as it should be. In its Virtualisation Reality report, analyst firm, Gartner, pointed out that only a quarter of server workloads will be in the cloud at the end of the year – instead of the desired 75%.

Philip Dawson, a research vice president at Gartner, understands the problems companies face.

"Virtualisation will continue as the highest impact issue challenging infrastructure and operations through 2015, changing how you manage, how and what you buy, how you deploy, how you plan and how you charge…virtualisation takes investment, and the savings are not a given.”

So companies need to be up-to-date in all areas to use virtualisation in the most effective way. Whilst server virtualisation is the most problematic area, there are also opportunities with the right handling (using the unused 90% of x86 capacity). Long-term virtualisation offers more than mere money saving ideas – once virtualisation has been taken on board confidently a company can expect to reduce server downtime and improve disaster recovery.

A hosted virtual desktop will be the norm indicated Gartner. "Hosted virtual desktops are poised to undergo explosive growth, and organisations are anticipating the flexibility and other benefits that these devices will bring," said Dawson. “However, organisations need to understand the strain this technology can place on datacentre infrastructures and operations, especially when thousands of employees use this platform type."

Companies must submerge themselves in the cloud or risk falling behind – and once the virtualisation phenomenon truly covers all areas - then everyone can appreciate the change.