Virtualization Training Should Top IT Priorities

Virtualization is a game-changer.  Unlike many technologies that only address specific painpoints in IT, virtualization is a platform, which is changing how data centers are built and how IT resources are provisioned.  Furthermore, virtualization is a key driver for emerging IT initiatives such as VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) and cloud computing. 

For years, organizations have been virtualizing applications successfully with our products.  Many of these organizations already have begun server virtualization projects and are looking at desktop virtualization projects on the horizon.   However, server virtualization exists only within pockets of most organizations as the majority of data center workloads are still running on physical servers.  As a result, the significant long-term TCO and ROI benefits of server virtualization remain largely untapped.

After an initial implementation phase, organizations face many challenges when trying to scale out their server virtualization platform.  For starters, IT shops often target “lowest hanging fruit” servers when beginning virtualization projects.  It is easy to virtualize those old Windows NT servers or other underutilized servers, which, for business reasons, must remain as a separate workload.  While virtualizing these largely underutilized servers does provide some cost-savings, the long-term benefit is relatively low.  The reason is simple: low-risk servers yield a low return because they do not represent a significant portion of the organization’s IT infrastructure.  To fully realize all the ROI, TCO and technical benefits of server virtualization, IT departments need to virtualize key workloads and infrastructure servers, which cost the most to power, cool and maintain.

However, organizations are struggling to virtualize critical servers, often due to performance issues, availability requirements or capital expenditure costs.  For example, IT shops may deem a critical workload as too risky to migrate due to high SLA uptime requirements.  Performance might be another issue as IT shops might find that a virtualized server does not perform as well or support as many users as its physical counterpart.  Lastly, the initial hardware and storage costs required to virtualize critical workloads might be too high.

How can IT shops overcome these barriers and increase virtualization’s penetration within their organization?  Organizations should make virtualization training and certification a priority.  Training and education help IT departments: