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Virtualization Tastes Good

Posted: 2/14/2012 - 2 comment(s) [ Comment ] - 0 trackback(s) [ Trackback ]

Tags: Desktops, Laptops, Printers, Document Management, Storage

Virtualization Tastes Good

Looking for savings in Federal IT. Cooking up Cloud. Dicing up your Data Centers. Not to make light of these strategic plays, but they’re not exactly putting food on the table today. So, how can Uncle Sam ring the dinner bell on RoI? A new study, “The Virtualization Vacuum,” points to $30 billion in savings by 2015. And, “what’s the secret sauce,” I hear you ask - plain old virtualization.

What’s great about virtualization is it ain’t new. Uncle Sam’s IT chefs are mostly familiar with the recipe - and sometimes the best meals are the easiest to prepare. Eighty-two percent of Fed and 77 percent of state-and-local IT pros’ agencies have already cooked up some server virtualization. And, those dishes have trimmed 19 percent from agencies' IT budget waistlines - that’s $15 billion in savings to date across government. By 2015, IT pros project virtualized workloads will jump from 37 to 63 percent - which would boost government-wide savings to $23.6 billion.

But, while the majority of agencies have chomped down on server virtualization, fewer have exhibited a palate for the desktop dish. Less than 10 percent of IT pros plan to virtualize all apps for all users. That said, if desktop virtualization cuts just half the budget calories as server virtualization, agencies could save 9.5 percent of their IT stash - or $7.5 billion.

So, why the weight - I mean wait? Yes, it’s our old friend funding. Only 48 percent of Feds and 39 percent of state-and-local IT pros have the funding to virtualize servers. But it’s not just the circular speculate-to-accumulate, chicken-egg catch 22. Even funding is overshadowed by legacy app migration issues. Govies peg that as the biggest obstacle – for both server and desktop virtualization. Surprisingly for us IT nerds, govies flag lack of management support as another significant barrier. Thirty-seven percent of IT pros say their management doesn’t support virtualization - and, less than half report their agency has a formal policy or common framework for server virtualization. Perhaps we need to do a better job selling the benefits? Hope that the Virtualization Vacuum study helps.

The net here is that tried and true virtualization has and continues to deliver real savings. Don’t forget desktop opportunities. We need to get it done cheaper - and/or sell the concept up the food chain in agencies to break free needed funding. But, don’t expect virtualization to be a quick fix. Fifty-seven percent of government IT pros report that it’ll take a year or more to realize server virtualization RoI. But in today’s government IT market - characterized by glacial change - satisfaction or your money back in one year seems a pretty good warrantee. Govies who haven't should sign up to take the virtualization taste test. Those chewing on the first course should go back for seconds.

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