This year marks the year that virtualization hit the big-time. It’s also the year that many IT managers saw for the first time the problems associated with the technology.
With an estimated 61 percent of data center managers using some form of in-house virtualization, there’s no doubt the IT industry sees the incredible advantages virtualization has to offer. But according to the Data Center Decisions 2008 Purchasing Intentions survey (IT reports have never been known for their catchy titles) nearly half of the 600 respondents said they experienced snags with their VMware environments. (VMware, by the way, is still the No. 1 virtualization platform.)
The biggest drawback is performance management, accounting for 47 percent of the respondents. Capacity planning and issues with troubleshooting were also big concerns, accounting for 20 percent to 45 percent of the survey takers.
Nonetheless, the adoption of virtualization is still skyrocketing. According to the report, 29 percent of the respondents said they were going to test or deploy a virtualized environment by the end of 2008, leaving only 10 percent with no near-term virtualization plans. Further, 56 percent said they were going to increase virtualization spending in the near-term. Only 2 percent said they were going to decrease their spending.
If you need further proof of the future of virtualization, look at Intel. The company has just launched its Xeon line of computer chips, which are designed to suit virtualized servers. More chip makers could follow suit, reports say.
With so many data center managers expected to spend more money on virtualization, and with other companies looking to capitalize on that trend, IT departments ought to be mindful of solutions that address the No. 1 problem with virtualization today: performance management. Those departments ill-equipped with solutions to automate troubleshooting in these complicated virtual environments will find themselves spending more money in the long run.
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