Fear and hype hampers virtualisation uptake

Fears that virtualisation is too confusing and causes downtime is putting off IT directors from reaping the technology’s cost and management benefits.

Some 71% of the IT directors surveyed by technology integration firm Morse avoid using virtualisation for critical systems because of the perceived risks.

Biggest worry, mentioned by 58% of the 100 IT directors, is the risk of downtime, closely followed by concerns about application performance. Cost and complexity are also cited as a problem, even though both are actually reduced by adopting virtualisation.

Morse consultant Scott Reynolds believes virtualisation is a “victim of its own hype”, but companies that take a strategic approach to the technology can see datacentre costs and management improvements.

“It is a hugely beneficial technology that can help businesses cut their costs in the datacentre and make their whole IT environment much simpler and easier to manage,” says Reynolds.