UK firms find virtualisation storage a step too far

One in five virtualisation projects in the UK will fail to reach the storage stage, according to results of a new survey.
 
While 70 percent of respondents indicated that they will be investing in server virtualisation, only 55 percent intended to invest in storage virtualisation.
 
Jeremy Wallis, systems engineering director at data management specialist NetApp (NASDAQ:NTAP), which carried out the survey, said he was surprised that over 20 percent were overlooking the benefits of storage virtualisation.
 
“As IT departments respond to pressure to do more with less, we will see an increase in virtualisation projects. The drive for efficiency is clearly relentless for many IT decision makers,” he said.
 
The majority (76 percent) of the 200 IT professionals questioned saw virtualisation as key drivers of efficiency and productivity in IT departments this year, even if some savings have disappointed in the past.
 
On average 58 percent of IT decision makers said that they anticipated dealing with budget cuts with 91 percent of those working in the public sector.
 
“This is perhaps an opportunity for end users and also the channel, as resellers and systems integrators can support those looking to achieve greater efficiencies without compromising on performance or business agility,” added Wallis.
 
The appetite for both server and storage virtualisation was strongest in retail, distribution and transport industries, with a difference of six percent between the two. This compared drastically with manufacturing, where the gap was over 40 percent.