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Wanted: Virtualization Expertise in the Data Center

Server virtualization Wanted: Virtualization Expertise in the Data Center There are some startling contrasts between where many IT organizations think they are on the virtualization maturity curve, versus where they actually are. Virtualization Momentum A full 78% of respondents said their companies plan to grow their virtualized infrastructure base in the coming year. The Reality […]

Written By: Michael Vizard

Jun 15, 2016

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Server virtualization

Wanted: Virtualization Expertise in the Data Center

There are some startling contrasts between where many IT organizations think they are on the virtualization maturity curve, versus where they actually are.

Virtualization Momentum

A full 78% of respondents said their companies plan to grow their virtualized infrastructure base in the coming year.

The Reality of Virtualization

Just under three-quarters (73%) want to virtualize more than half their workloads. Yet only 29% have actually achieved that goal today.

Virtualization Challenges

More than half of organizations lack visibility across infrastructure domains and are unable to ensure that adequate capacity exists for workloads. Another 40% are unable to scale their infrastructure as needed.

IT Automation Becomes a Priority

Providing automated self-service capabilities is a high or critical priority for 84% of organizations today. A majority of respondents said they are well on their way to automated infrastructure.

The Provisioning Paradox

Only 24% of companies can provision infrastructure in hours—the rest takes days or weeks. While many organizations believe they are automating today, less than a quarter are able to provision infrastructure environments effectively. Most still have a way to go to reach automation maturity.

The Challenge With Provisioning

The biggest issue with provisioning times is the multiple handoffs that must take place between different IT teams to spin up virtualized/cloud infrastructure. Nearly one-third of all respondents ranked this as the top challenge they face.

Early-Stage Virtualization Issues

Firms with “low virtualization” adoption don’t have enough visibility into how the virtual infrastructure is performing, how much capacity remains and how to scale it safely. More than half of organizations lack visibility across infrastructure domains and cannot ensure that adequate capacity exists for workloads.

App Development Focus

Companies that have a strong app development focus and use more than 40% of their infrastructure to support software development face different challenges than those that use less than 40% of their infrastructure for app development.

How Many Tools Is Too Many?

Experienced teams that have virtualized more of their workloads reported a bigger problem with “tool sprawl.” Almost one-third of high-virtualization organizations are using more than five tools, compared with just 13% of those with low virtualization. This added complexity actually reduces visibility. In fact, just under half (48%) report they have “too many different tools.”

Michael Vizard

Michael Vizard is a seasoned IT journalist, with nearly 30 years of experience writing and editing about enterprise IT issues. He is a writer for publications including Programmableweb, IT Business Edge, CIOinsight, Channel Insider and UBM Tech. He formerly was editorial director for Ziff-Davis Enterprise, where he launched the company’s custom content division, and has also served as editor in chief for CRN and InfoWorld. He also has held editorial positions at PC Week, Computerworld and Digital Review.

Wanted: Virtualization Expertise in the Data Center

Michael Vizard

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