HP last March previewed software to analyze and optimize physical and virtual resources in the same way. Called Insight Dynamics - VSE, HP says this platform management tool can reduce the cost of common data center tasks by as much as 40 percent. Frances Guida, manager of virtualization at HP considers this a server migration path.

"Virtualization is no different from any other part of the IT environment," Guida insists. "Standards have evolved," and virtualization merely adds another set of standards and another opportunity. That said, managers can use the same strategy for choosing any new element for a data center. "Some elements have a long useful life; some have a shorter life," Guida points out, and that lifespan figures into the choices of virtualization elements, too.

Regulated industries, like finance and pharmaceuticals, have another level of complexity to consider. Their choices must meet the requirements of their particular regulators. Will, for example, a particular virtualized application provide the track and trace capabilities required by FDA ‘s CF21 Part 11 or the electronic signatures advocated by Sarbanes Oxley? Will security levels be maintained as instances move among machines and as multiple vendors come into play?

Order from Chaos

To answer such questions, "Do tons of research," Farrow advises. "Check magazines and blogs, and take the marketing literature with a grain of salt." Case studies offer some insights, and professional networking sites may provide real-world insights and advice that wouldn't otherwise be accessible. "There will be a lot of growing pains," he predicts.

Chris Saul, marketing manager for storage virtualization for IBM System Storage also ecommends looking closely at vendors' interoperability claims. "Look at the range of servers and disk types that are supported," he advises, and ascertain the extent to which those devices really are supported. "Have they actually tested it?" he asks. Asierus, a network support company,  went a step further. When it completely virtualized its entire IT operations, it brought in the equipment and tested it in the environment in which it would run, according to Jeremy Simmons, CEO. "Find out what fits best in your environment," he emphasizes.

Who will do the work is another factor to consider, Guida says. Virtualization is fairly young, and the numbers of IT experts with virtualization is relatively small, but growing. So, can you handle changes in-house or must you depend upon your vendors working together to get and keep your system operational? If third parties are involved, are they trained in the variety of systems and applications involved in your solution? Another concern, of course, is whether the application itself does everything that's needed, or whether additional virtualization applications must be added, increasing complexity, but also potentially increasing robustness. Identify the tradeoffs and their relative importance. 

IT administrators also need to determine whether their choices tie them into other components. In the realm of storage, for example, companies typically have a series of different disk systems. Storage management systems hide the characteristics of the individual systems to make them mimic one large storage system that may be managed from one console. The ramifications of how, exactly, they manage storage may affect subsequent decisions. IBM's SAN volume controller (SVC), Saul points out, stands outside the box and embraces a multi-vendor environment. "It works with what you already have," Saul says. Some other systems use switches that may tie one to a switch vendor or even to a particular disk system, he continues.  Similar issues may extend enterprise-wide throughout the virtualization space, creating silos of specific functions and lessening the gains of virtualization.

Continuing that train of thought, Saul asks, "How easy would it be to remove a virtual system?" Vendors may fail and needs may change. The ability to easily replace today's best technology with something even better suited to your operations a few years from now can be invaluable.

The trend to implement virtualization through middleware eases the compatibility issue somewhat, Perry says. Applications today, however, tend to be tiered and monolithic...and don't lend themselves to easily and quickly moving, making many inapplicable for virtualization. "That's the biggest problem with virtualization today,'" he says, and requires administrators to determine whether virtualization requires major changes in applications.

Additionally, Saul asks, "Will vendors work together?" When things go wrong -- and they will --  vendors need to be able to work together productively to solve the problem as if it was their own rather than pass it off as somebody else's problem.  To promote such cooperation, leading vendors formed TSAnet to work behind the scenes, globally, to solve customers' problems.  "TSAnet promotes cooperation between vendors in dealing with multivendor issues," Saul elaborates, letting customers maintain one point of contact regardless of where the issue eventually resides. He recommends checking cooperative service agreements for your current vendors and, importantly, for those you anticipate adding to your mix.

A multivendor environment is a fact of life "but don't go crazy with it," Saul says. When it comes to virtualization, having two or three major vendors is good.  Having ten or twelve is probably too many.

Beyond Vendors

But, beyond vendors, IT managers themselves can do a lot to ensure forward compatibility and flexibility, Smith says.  "Stay current with patches and service pack levels. Develop policies for this and hound your team about it. In a virtual environment, in which machines can quickly go up and down, you can quickly lose control."

To do that, "you need a strategy," Simmons emphasizes. That's a point on which everyone seems to agree. Know where the company needs to be in five or 10 years, and know where IT needs to be at that time to enable the company to fulfill its mission. Then, you can develop a plan to get there, choosing vendors most likely to deliver today and in the long run, while maintaining the flexibility that is vital to today's fast-paced environment. "The number one thing," he insists, "is to truly understand your needs and keep your strategic plan in mind. If not, you just create more problems for yourself," and plunge headfirst into chaos.

Virtualization: Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD ,  GigaSpace , Interphase Systems , Fortisphere, Is Virtualization the "Cloud" of the Enterprise?