According to VMware, virtualization addresses IT’s most pressing challenge: the infrastructure sprawl that compels IT departments to channel 70% of their budget into maintenance, leaving scant resources for business-building innovation. The company describes virtualization as enabling several operating systems and applications to run on one physical server or “host”. Each self-contained “virtual machine” is isolated from others, and uses as much of the host’s computing resources as it requires.
Organizations of all sizes are adopting virtualization technology and reaping a variety of benefits throughout their operations. The key benefits of virtualization are:
- Elimination of many routine administrative tasks for the in-house IT staff
More time for in-house staff to research and implement technology in innovative ways to address pressing business needs
- More robust backup and data protection options, reducing the risk of data loss
- Increased application availability, reducing system downtime
- Improved business continuity with shortened data recovery times
- Increased profitability as a result of decreased capital and operational expenses
According to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant ranking of providers in the x86 Server Virtualization Infrastructure market, VMware is the leader in this market both in market share and in innovation. In Gartner’s overview of the vendors in this market, they note the following four strengths of VMware:
- Virtualization strategy and road map that lead to private and hybrid cloud computing
- Technology leadership and innovation
- High customer satisfaction
- Large installed base
Gartner believes this market will continue to grow as many smaller enterprises and those in emerging economies are still early in their virtualization initiatives.