Only 45pc of chief information officers (CIOs) worldwide think their companies are doing an effective job in the move to virtualised server environments.
Worldwide, 54pc of large enterprises rate management of their virtual server environment as a critical or high IT priority.
The survey by CA found that servers, storage and applications are the most important areas to virtualise on CIO agendas.
The study found that the most important capabilities when managing a server virtualisation environment are: performance/utilisation, security and automation.
It also revealed the top benefits experienced as a result of server virtualisation initiatives are: easier hardware provisioning and software deployment; more flexible development and testing environments; and optimising system performance.
Respondents rated security as the most significant challenge when managing server virtualisation initiatives. Measuring return on investment is also a critical management challenge.
Just 28pc of respondents worldwide have a method in place to measure the return on investment on virtualisation solutions, yet 51pc indicate they are extremely confident or confident that their companies are maximising the return on virtualisation investments.
“Successful management of the virtualisation infrastructure is essential in order to optimise technology initiatives, enable documented returns on investments and enhance productivity across the enterprise,” said Paula Daley, vice-president of product marketing at CA.
“IT executives must go beyond relying on an assortment of point platform-based management tools to one that centralises virtual, physical and clustered environments.
“Doing so will increase their confidence in managing virtual server environments, reduce complexity, improve operational efficiency and ensure that IT investments are optimised and generating competitive advantages for the business,” Daly added.
By John Kennedy
