Analysts: Virtualization to save businesses millions

Virtualization could save companies millions of dollars and be the dominant data center technology within the next two to three years, according to analysts.

Virtualization can reduce energy consumption and cut operating costs for companies adopting the technology, according to a Butler Group report released this week on infrastructure virtualization.

The report estimates a company currently operating 250 dual-core servers can save $4 million over the next three years by adopting virtualization technology.

Butler also estimates that a power savings on the order of $157,500 for every 1,000 PCs per year can be achieved by businesses moving from a full desktop PC infrastructure to a server-hosted desktop virtualization setup.

And a further $8,000 per 1,000 help-desk calls per month could also be saved by reducing the number of such calls and encouraging the use of self-service application virtualization technologies, the research reveals.

Many companies initially adopt virtualization to save money through server consolidation, and then start to notice other benefits, so that virtualization becomes part of the overall IT plan, according to the analyst house.

Roy Illsley, senior research analyst with Butler, said companies need to understand what virtualization can deliver--and how it is delivered--to successfully use the technology to manage an organization's IT resources.

The virtualization revolution seems to be slowly marching on, with analysts and industry experts naming the technology as one of the most versatile tools in IT, and analyst house Gartner stating that virtualization will be a key technology to help companies beef up security on corporate mobile devices.

Senior industry figures have also named virtualization as the technology poised to play the most significant role in tackling the challenges many chief information officers face, such as rising energy costs.

Gemma Simpson of Silicon.com reported from London.