Virtualisation on the up says IDC

MARKET RESEARCH OUTFIT IDC Has just released a report claiming that use of virtualised servers is on the up.

Actually, the report claims that the rate of adoption of virtualised servers is, "incredibly rapid among organisations that are using virtualisation", which is a bit like saying that the take up rate of PCs is pretty quick in firms that use PCs.

IDC reckons that 35 per cent of servers bought in 2007 are now in the process of being virtualised and that a whopping 52 per cent of those bought in 2008 will be too. The research also claims that 54 per cent of those not yet using virtualisation predict they will be within the next 18 months, which is virtually just around the corner.

Chris Ingle, consulting and research director of IDC's Systems Group said, " Virtualisation use has exploded since our last survey of the European market," and added, "both large organisations and smaller businesses are using the technology for a wider range of applications".

The IDC report says businesses are increasingly using virtualisation of x86 systems for 'core business applications', despite the fact that most are still fiddling around with them for testing and development, as well as for network server applications.

According to IDC, Vmware takes the biggest slice of the virtualisation market pie with 82 per cent of those surveyed by IDC’s boffins saying they used it. The report also notes that despite high levels of Linux use, only three per cent of those surveyed actually used Xen as their virtualisation platform. The Vole managed to put in a fair showing, accounting for 13 per cent, just behind various Unix technologies and mainframes which accounted for 14 per cent.

Ingle noted that, "Microsoft is making a strong push for market share later in 2008; VMware seems to be in the right place with its focus on business continuity and virtualisation management; Citrix and the Unix vendors are appealing to their core markets; HP, IBM, Fujitsu-Siemens Computers, Dell, Sun, BMC, and others will look to take the lead in systems and management." Virtually everyone then.

The largest growth area for virtualisation use over the past year was improving disaster recovery, backup, and expanding availability according to IDC.

The report notes, however, that the availability of skills and application vendor licensing are factors which still cause a fair amount of bother for virtualisation users.

Virtually perfect apart from that. µ