Consulting and research firm Saugatuck Technologies published a report last December dubbed ‘The Many Faces of Virtualization – Understanding a New IT Reality ‘, proclaiming that virtualization will have the single largest effect on IT budgets for hardware and support over the next three years and that by 2010, the 3 main vendors (VMWare, Cisco & Citrix / XenSource) will dominate the IT virtualization industry.
Another important finding of the study is that all facets of IT virtualization will see substantial enhancements in functionality and performance, with the most significant enhancements being in microprocessors, hypervisors and operating systems.
The report notes that the general concept of virtualization is usually equated with the specifics of server virtualization, since server and mainframe virtualization have been used in the IT world for decades. But it’s important to note that virtualization can be applied to all IT resources, including servers, storage, networks, and desktops.
“This study is the first attempt that we’ve seen to use real-world expertise and practicality to classify and explain the types and effects of IT virtualisation, in terms that both user and vendor executives can understand, and can profit from,” said Saugatuck founder and CEO Bill McNee. “This is a solid foundation from which executives can educate themselves, and begin planning more effective management of virtualisation.”