Top 2 Virtualization Challenges, and How to Avoid Them
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
Virtualization is a tricky proposition. It’s difficult to picture, and even more difficult to fully implement. To provide background information, virtualization uses the same physical machine to run multiple virtual machines. Software engineers were the first ones to figure out that multiple operating systems and applications could be stored on a single physical machine. Initially, they used virtualization to test products across different platforms, such as internet browsers. Then, business leaders discovered that they could use virtualization to cut IT costs. By reducing the amount of hardware required, virtualization could free companies from the prospect of library stacks of servers to manage. Grandiose visions of slimmed-down IT operations danced in the heads of CIOs everywhere. However, years after virtualization made the leap from software testing technique to money-saving IT strategy, it seems most companies still aren’t fully “virtualized.” As Andi Mann reports for CIO magazine, industry estimates suggest most companies have only virtualized between 20 and 30% of their assets.
