Companies Cite Virtualization as a Critical Initiative

More than half of the companies recently surveyed by Forrester Research (News - Alert) pointed to desktop and application virtualization as a “critical or major initiative” over the next 12 to 18 months.

The study, conducted by Forrester on behalf of Dimension Data, found that over the next two years, deployment levels of virtual machines are expected to grow to 46 percent from 27 percent currently, leading to tens of thousands of virtual desktops among those organizations polled. As some of the major reasons behind the aggressive push toward virtualization, Dimension Data (News - Alert) listed cost reductions, security, manageability, and the migration to Windows 7.

In fact, almost 30 percent of those surveyed said they’re purposely syncing their jump to Windows 7 with their rollout of virtual desktops. With 1,000 days left for Microsoft’s support of Windows XP, companies are looking at virtualization as one way to expedite their Windows 7 upgrades.

But the consumerization of IT is another factor driving the move to virtualization. Among those polled, 20-22 percent said they already support employee-owned laptops, tablets, and smartphones, while another 16-21 percent plan to do so over the next two years. Virtualization is one way that IT can support employee-owned laptops by giving workers access to virtualized desktops housed on servers in their data centers.

But Dimension Data warned organizations that may see virtualization as the Holy Grail. Before virtualizing their desktops and applications, companies need to first understand the needs of their workforce and the nature and scope of their applications. Ettienne Reinecke, Dimension Data’s chief technology officer, recommends that businesses then pilot desktop or application virtualization to a small group of test users before deploying them on a larger scale. In the long run, a combination of traditional and virtual desktops may be the best option for many organizations.

Reinecke also cautioned companies eyeing virtualization simply as a way to cut costs.

“Desktop virtualization requires significant investment in the supporting network infrastructure, servers, storage upgrade and software licensing fees to ensure that the solution can effectively meet business and end user demands,” Reinecke said.

The survey included responses from 550 organizations around the world.