The Virtualisation Headache
The Virtualisation Headache
2nd August, 2007: CIO’s are asking where the savings are, as projected returns on investment (ROI) are not being achieved.
IT management software company, CA has released an independent global study on virtualisation which shows 51% of organisations believe their virtualisation solution has not been successful. The study by Strategic Research surveyed 969 organisations, including 55 from Australia and New Zealand. “A lot of CIO’s are looking at it from a data center cost savings point and asking where are they?” said Steven Whichelo, technology specialist, enterprise systems management from CA.
Once upon a time virtualisation was a word that was thrown around with flushed faces and excited giggles. When it was first being hailed as the amazing, wonderful solution to every server problem, vast swathes of companies couldn’t wait to get their hands on a virtualisation solution, “a lot of companies were going down the virtualisation path just because everyone else was” Whichelo said.
Fast forward to now and virtualisation is now marred by furrowed brows and concerned looks as reports such as the one released by CA reveal wide spread failures to meet ROI expectations. “Large numbers of CIO’s embarked on virtualisation projects without the proper understandings” Whichelo said.
This is not to say virtualisation hasn’t been successful in a large number of cases, the success stories are most definitely out there. Indeed the study statistic can be looked at in another way, 49% of organisations believe their virtualisation deployment was successful. According to Whichelo this is due to a “large number of organisations who have had years of mature systems management”.
Virtualisation solutions are now so common place that 69% of Australian and New Zealand organisations are using them. CA is advocating the use of tools that can assist throughout the virtualisation process and a greater understanding throughout the decision making process in order for companies to manage their solutions going forward. Whichelo states that although there is no longer any chance of quantifying the ROI, this does not mean existing deployments are a lost cause.