NetApp Research Report Sample

As organizations continue to deploy server virtualization, questions have shifted from “if ” to “how.” Out of all 220 inquiries Forrester’s IT infrastructure and operations team answered on data centers, servers, and virtual appliances in 2008 to date, 72 were specifically in regard to server virtualization. These IT professionals’ most common inquiries addressed vendor comparison, optimum physical to virtual consolidation ratios, expected ROI, and situation-specific concerns regarding the possible benefits that virtual servers could provide. These inquiries came from organizations in the early stages of implementing server virtualization -- if you are considering or are in the process of implementing, you too should be asking these questions.

Virtual servers Should be in your data center

According to Forrester’s Enterprise and SMB Hardware Survey, North America and Europe, Q3 2007, 28% of firms had already implemented server virtualization by July 2007, and another 11% planned to implement virtual servers by July 2008. These firms also anticipated virtualizing 42% of their servers by July 2009, which is a significant increase from the 24% reported in July 2007.1 In short, the interest in virtual servers is still on the rise for both veteran and inexperienced firms, and thus these firms are finally asking the questions that will help them succeed in their deployments.

Your Peers Are Asking: “What Hypervisor And VM Management Tools Should I Use?”
Fifty-four percent of all server virtualization inquiries between January 2008 and September 2008 included questions on vendor selection and management tools (see Figure 1). Some IT professionals wanted a hypervisor vendor recommendation, while others focused on the management tools necessary to administer virtual servers.