Virtualisation use strengthens as Irish firms prepare for cloud

10 Mar 2011

Virtualisation’s progress continues, with a new survey showing one-third of Irish organisations are using it throughout their operations and the remainder are evaluating the technology.

The findings come from a survey of Citrix Systems’ Irish channel partners at its recent Partner Accelerator Event in Dublin. One-third of those polled said their customers were using virtualisation extensively, while two-thirds said their customers are trialling it.

Almost half of the channel partners (47pc) said desktop virtualisation is their best-selling technology – indicating that is where many customers are investing. Server virtualisation remains strong, with 42pc of respondents saying this would be their top seller.

Virtualisation is widely considered as one of the main technology building blocks for cloud computing. By 2014, 45pc of resellers say virtualisation sold as part of a broader cloud initiative will be the main sales driver. The other 55pc are most bullish about desktop virtualisation.

One interesting finding raised by the survey is that the BYOD (bring your own device) concept that lets employees use personal devices at work appears to be gaining popularity: 87pc of respondents report “some” or “considerable” growth in demand for virtualisation so it can deliver business applications to devices like tablets or smartphones.

This dovetails with thinking from consultants PwC. In its most recent quarterly technology forecast, the firm urged organisations to encourage staff to use their chosen technology in the workplace, rather than having the IT department impose a way of working on them.

Within three years, the idea of being dependent on a single computer or location for work will be outdated, said Kevin Bland, Citrix Ireland’s channel director. “As this research shows, we are working within an ever-evolving IT landscape. The impact of consumerisation is already evident as customers look to meet the differing needs of today’s workforce; desktop virtualisation is also making a significant impact in the marketplace.”

Gordon Smith was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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