14 May 2009
Research by market intelligence firm IDC has revealed that for the first time ever shipments of virtual machines (VM) in Western Europe exceeded those of physical servers in 2008.
According to the research, the number of server systems shipped with a virtualisation platform on top increased by 26.5 per cent in 2008 compared to 2007, reaching 358,000 units.
Giorgio Nebuloni, IDC European systems research analyst, said, "In 2008, approximately 18.3 per cent of all servers shipped in Western Europe were virtualised, against 14.6 per cent in 2007, and we expect the percentage to grow to almost 21 per cent in 2010. More importantly, last year, and for the first time ever, the number of virtual machine (VM) shipments exceeded the number of physical servers shipped, topping two million units."
Nebuloni predicts that by 2013, 60 per cent of all shipments will be virtualised systems.
IDC expects shipments of both physical and virtual logical machines will grow strongly, making VM management tools pivotal as both virtual and physical servers have to be operated, monitored, and patched.
"The current economic crisis [is] increasingly intertwined with virtualisation adoption, due to the need to squeeze costs with existing assets and weak demand for new hardware," said Nathaniel Martinez, IDC's European enterprise servers programme director.
Virtualisation offers great benefits and flexibility but can also create gaping holes in corporate liability. In a virtualised environment, inadequate asset information and poor software licensing policies within the IT department could have disastrous implications.
Virtualisation allows an extended number of users access to software. The IT team in charge of the software assets are not necessarily aware of the implications of duplicating applications and it is company directors who will take ultimate responsibility. The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) and ISO 19770 software asset management standards show little sympathy for company directors who disregard software licences, a crime which can now result in a 10 year jail term or hefty fine.
Only by being vigilant and instigating rigorous asset acquisition and disposal policies and recording detailed information about the software loaded, including its serial number, can any company attain real control over virtual software assets. This perhaps daunting task is made simple if the centralised asset register is used to its full potential.
With centrally stored software asset information, organisations can immediately check for unlicensed software and manage user numbers against agreed licences. Using an accurate software asset register, the IT Manager can also provide the board of directors with a monthly report that proves proper licensing procedures and processes are in place.
Businesses need to be accountable for applications in virtual environments or they will shortly be facing very physical consequences.
Yours sincerely
Karen Conneely
Group Commercial Manager
Real Asset Management
www.realassetmgt.co.uk
Posted by: Karen Conneely 18 May 2009
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