Our Guide to Virtualisation

Virtualisation is the single most effective way to reduce IT expenses.

For small, medium and large enterprises, virtualization can boost efficiency and agility, and save money on IT infrastructure and services. With virtualisation, performance and availability increases, which means work gets done quicker within an IT system that easier to manage and cheaper to run.

Many organisations have reaped the benefits of virtualisation, but what is it, is it right for your organisation and are you right to be nervous about jumping on the virtualisation bandwagon?

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by the prospect of full virtualisation, this guide will help you get your head around it.

What is Virtualisation?

Virtualisation, quite literally, is the creation of a virtual version of something, like a server, storage system or network. It’s the use of software technology to run multiple operating systems and applications on the same server at the same time. It’s part of a general trend towards centralising and streamlining all IT operations for increased productivity and efficiency. It’s truly changing the way people use technology.

It’s also a way to segregate IT processes to protect against security breaches. If some malicious code affects one system, virtualization prevents the same breach affecting others. Bromium, for example, uses virtualisation to improve endpoint security. Some virtualisation software also helps your organisation to save energy, tracking areas where you are wasting resources and helping you streamline them.

The available resources in a network can be combined using virtualisation, making it easier to manage complex networks. Physical storage from multiple network storage devices can be pooled into a central console, using software like Maxta, while server virtualisation can mask server resources to simplify server resource management.

How Can it Help You?

Virtualisation has saved companies millions of pounds per year. Costs savings are the most obvious and far-reaching benefits of virtualisation. Here are 5 other ways that virtualisation can help you…

  1. Offers better availability for your applications
  2. Minimises downtime
  3. Increases productivity, efficiency, agility and responsiveness.
  4. Supports disaster recovery, with softwares like Nakivo.
  5. Allows for centralized IT management.

Although the benefits of virtualisation are clear, there are some things you should keep in mind. There are  risks and challenges to virtualisation that you should be aware of, for example. Compliance with software licenses is an ongoing challenge, and failure to do so can result in large fines.

Equally, we encourage that virtualisation is assessed on a case-by-case basis, and that you should only go ahead if it is the right thing for your organisation. Be patient, as you may have to virtualise more than one asset to start to see effects. If you don’t start to see positive benefits, you should contact your IT provider.

Are you looking to make the move over to a virtualised IT system, but lack the niche skills in your team to implement the changes? Well, we have a pool of the most talented tech professionals in the UK on our books. Want to meet some of them? Get in touch today.