The majority of resellers involved in virtualisation are optimistic about the outlook for the next quarter, with 88.2pc expecting an increase in demand in the next six months.
That’s according to a survey of Irish and UK channel partners conducted by Citrix Systems.
The survey reveals that resellers believe desktop virtualisation and server virtualisation present the best opportunities for sales now, with 43pc saying that desktop virtualisation is the way to go and 40pc opting for server virtualisation.
Over the next three years, the channel predicts that the future lies with desktop virtualisation as the leader for sales, which was selected by 47pc of survey respondents, closely followed by opportunities where virtualisation forms part of a broader cloud-computing initiative, with 46pc of respondents plumping for this option.
Changing the way business is done
According to the research, the move towards widespread adoption of virtualisation and the belief that this will be driven by demand for cloud-based services is changing the way the channel does business. Only 5pc of respondents don’t think cloud-computing services will have an impact on their business model, while nearly half (49pc) have already made changes to the way they sell products to accommodate it.
“As the virtualisation marketplace continues to gather momentum, interest in desktop virtualisation has risen over the past year and is now a priority for resellers,” said Niall Gilmore, country manager for Citrix Ireland. “Customers are demanding computing models that offer complete flexibility, as well as meeting security and performance demands.”
In Ireland, predictions indicate that the desktop virtualisation market will grow by 9.4pc in 2010 and 27.4pc in 2011, Citrix says.
Photo: Niall Gilmore, Citrix’s general manager
Article courtesy of Businessandleadership.com