Servervirtualisationplans have stalled in recent months
because of the economic downturn, but there are signs of recovery,
according to research firm IDC.
IDC believes the market is poised for the start of a significant
infrastructure refresh cycle and virtualisation will be a key
technology to meet demand for more dynamic and converged
infrastructure.
The IDC research shows that 16.5% of all new servers shipped in
the second quarter of 2009 were virtualised, which represents an
increase from 14.5% in the second quarter of 2008.
Although virtualisation increased, the number of physical
servers sold dropped 21% compared with the previous year as
businesses continue to limit spending.
The research showed that worldwide virtualisation software
revenue declined 18.7% to $344m, compared with the same period last
year.
VMware continues to hold the number one (VMware ESX) and number
two (VMware Server) virtualisation platforms, despite revenues
declining 22%, compared with same period last year.
Microsoft virtualisation license shipments declined 16%
year-on-year, due to continued depreciation of
Virtual Server 2005.
Microsoft's
Hyper-V is fourth with an increase of 54%, while Parallels
Virtuozzo stands at number five, with licence sales declining
36% year-on-year, according to the report.
The Citrix
XenServer showed the largest increase, growing 108%, due to the
company changing its business model, the report said.
Matt Eastwood, group vice-president of enterprise platforms at
IDC, said there are signs that stability is beginning to take hold
in the worldwide server market.
"The worldwide server installed base has aged significantly and
virtual machine densities on these systems have increased sharply
over the past year," he said.