Virtualization is a buzzword that has been doing the rounds for a couple of years now. Does it really help organizations and how?
Tough economic times like the one we are experiencing right now usually means that the first thing that is taken off the budget is the IT spend. So, how does the IT head think about a technology like virtualization that has fairly huge initial setup costs?
The following measures may be able to help you generate the required capital for virtualization setup:
– Consider VOIP for all your telephonic needs including teleconferencing. If you are an organization with a multi-location presence, look at your phone bills – company wide.
– Consider an MPLS network. These have a built-in redundancy. You can consider scrapping the backup line that you have procured from a second service provider for all your remote locations. This will translate into huge cost savings.
– Evaluate the need for AMC for desktops. Consider the savings involved vs the option of not having an AMC in the light of the fact that desktops anyway have a life of 3 – 5 years. Cannibalize computers if anything goes wrong with them within this period.
Now, let us look at how virtualization can help you.
– Server virtualization. Multiple operating systems may be installed on a single server reducing the amount of hardware required to run the business.
– Laptop virtualization. You may secure your network with the latest firewalls and the best policies. But, one executive laptop lost may offset all the benefits; what with the amount of sensitive data on it. You may consider laptop virtualization as one of the solutions for the above situation.
– Application deployment virtualization: Large IT organizations usually have a variety of software. A team requiring a particular software for the duration of a project usually has to undergo a time consuming process of setting up that software on all required computers. Not needed with application virtualization. The issues of hardware compatibility are also usually addressed. This can also result in cost and time savings in acquiring new or modified computing resources and applications.
– Training virtualization. Conducting a training programme involves installing all required applications at the training site. Again, a time consuming process and issues of hardware compatibility rise. The complete training infrastructure on a virtual platform results in huge time and cost savings.
– License management. IT companies usually have an array of licensed software. Complying with licensing requirements related to number of installations is a strenuous process. You may have 5 licenses for software X and two project teams – one in Dallas and one in Chennai – wanting to use the software at the same time. If you can host the software on a virtual platform and combine this with an access management system, you could end up with two benefits
1. Your Chennai team uses the software for 12 hrs and your Dallas team uses it for the other 12. If you had not virtualised it, you would probably have had to increase the number of licenses.
2. You can make sure that at any point the number of installations is what you have paid for and not inadvertently more.
Innovative uses of virutalization can thus help in huge cost and time savings. Virtualization is thus a value proposition when well thought-out, planned & implemented across the organization.
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