Virtualization

Anyone would be hard pressed to walk into most larger enterprise IT environments these days and not find some type of virtualization technology deployed. You would find this technology would apply to servers, desktops, applications and storage and come from a variety of vendors such as Microsoft, VMware, Citrix and others. Smaller environments, such as those with fewer than 50 servers, are taking a hard look at their virtualization options as well. Many analysts predict the adoption of virtualization among small and midsize businesses will double in the next 24 months. Why? ROI – it IS real and it IS immediate.

For businesses that have begun to execute on a virtualization strategy, continued expansion is a priority. Why? ROI – they have realized the ROI they were anticipating and they want to maximize it. More than half of enterprises industry-wide and almost as many small to medium sized businesses are looking to expand or upgrade their implementation of x86 server(s) – virtualization is an integral part of those strategies.

Virtualization does away with the inefficiency of the old “one server, one application” model which inherently rendered most servers vastly underutilized. Virtualization technologies allow one single server to function as multiple “virtual machines,” with each virtual machine able to operate independently and operate with different operating systems such as Windows, Linux or Apache for example. As a result, companies that have adopted virtualization have been able to consolidate multiple servers onto fewer physical devices, overcoming the underutilization dilemma while also reducing space, power and administrative requirements.

Aligning the “right” virtualization solution with your unique situation is most important. The Kaana IT professionals you will work with are well versed in multiple virtualization solution-sets and have deep and broad experience in a variety of use cases. We believe a one size/one vendor solution does not apply to every situation. What we are certain of are the benefits. Let’s look at the benefits you can realize:

The benefits and ROI to virtualization include:

Reduced Costs

Managing IT can be quite costly for some organizations both in time and resources. Server and Desktop virtualization will reduce your hardware and maintenance costs and lower your company’s’ overall energy bill – sometimes by as much as 40% or more.

By consolidating excess server and desktop hardware and leveraging thin client technology wherever appropriate, a business will increase utilization rates for x86 servers by up to 75 percent. Associated energy costs (i.e. power consumption) will subsequently decrease as well. Server consolidation will reduce required expensive floor space and help eliminate server sprawl by bringing together multiple applications and/or desktops onto a single server. This can reduce hardware and maintenance costs by as much as 50 percent across the board.

Increase Efficiency and Business Continuity

In addition to the immediate cost savings highlighted above, virtualization will improve staff productivity and provide business continuity and disaster recovery options that may have seemed costly and out of reach to most organizations. The productivity gains are found when your IT staff will find themselves ordering and administering fewer servers and desktops and they will be able to get applications up and runner faster; resulting in fewer technical issues to deal with every day. More than 60% of small to midsize businesses report significant improvements on time spent on routine administrative tasks after implementing virtualization technologies in their environment(s).

Most people who have looked at Business Continuity and DR options for their organizations are aware of the significant costs and complexities associated with traditional business continuity solutions. As a result, to many small/medium sized businesses, such solutions become luxuries that are out of reach. Virtualization helps companies achieve faster and easier backup of key application workloads and data. Recovery is easier as well. Virtualization allows companies of any size to more cost-effectively switch to a secondary IT site, Private or Public Cloud-based and restore critical business operations in near real-time.

Data Protection

We can all agree that your data is one of the most valuable assets in your company. Data security, regardless of where the data resides in the enterprise needs to be addressed. Virtualization can enhance a company’s ability to increase security because the IT staff is able to more easily apply security patches and move applications between virtual machines to avoid downtime. At Kaana IT, we will ensure your corporate security policies and regulatory compliance requirements are met and guide us to the “right “solution for you.