Virtualization offers many benefits to a midmarket organization, but can present challenges as well. You might receive conflicting messages on your virtualization needs, find yourself unable to convince the business of its upsides or simply need new ways to optimize your virtualization project. With proper preparation, however, CIOs can craft a virtualization plan that demonstrates ROI and fulfills immediate needs within the organization.
This briefing will walk you through ways to advance your organization's virtualization plan, including confronting unexpected challenges, selling the plan to the business and tackling lingering licensing issues.
This guide is part of SearchCIO-Midmarket.com's Midmarket CIO Briefings series, which is designed to give IT leaders strategic management and decision-making advice on timely topics.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
The right tools for a virtualization plan
If you have virtualized your servers and want to take another step to optimize your virtualization plan, a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) can help. Once you have server virtualization in place, VDI is not far off: All you need are a few additional components.
Experts Danielle and Nelson Ruest explain what most organization opt for -- the hybrid VDI system. Although VDI offers many benefits, such as a higher ROI, you can't overlook the fact that remote access can leave your network vulnerable to a malicious user. The Ruests explain that you will need multiple layers of protection including complex passwords and remote wipe capability, among other important features. Once the logistics are worked through, however, both users and administrators will be happy with the end result.
Learn more in "Make the most of a virtualization strategy: The virtual remote desktop."
Key facts for crafting a virtualization plan
Some believe virtualization is just a passing fad, while others believe it's here for good. With such varying opinions, it can be hard to determine what will benefit your company or what will backfire. CIO Scott Lowe helps you sort through all of this, giving you 10 facts about virtualization.
Virtualization will save you money, but it won't save you money. Virtualization will simplify your workload, but it will add complexity to your workload. These statements might seem contradictory, but the truth of the matter is that every scenario is different, so it's important to look at virtualization carefully and understand how it applies to you.
Learn more in "Behind the hype: 10 facts to help you sort out virtualization benefits."
Essential virtualization terms CIOs should know
Identifying the right virtualization plan for you
Sometimes a different approach is necessary if you're just not able to convince the business side of the company. If your virtualization plan is DOA, you might need to present the project using ROI analysis rather than a total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis. CEO John Weathington explains why.
The TCO will cause sticker shock, but if you present your plan in terms of getting the most business value as quickly as possible, your chance of success will increase drastically. Another suggestion: Try an Agile approach, which will ease the company into virtualization a little at a time. By trying something different, you could achieve something new: a yes to your plan.
Learn more in "ROI analysis the key for green light on your virtualization project."
Virtualization trends and management: A quiz for CIOs
CIOs in both enterprise and midmarket firms would be hard-pressed to ignore the impact of recent virtualization trends on their IT operations. Virtualization is happening at the operating system, server, storage, desktop and networking resource levels, and offers many benefits to organizations tackling mobile device management issues.
Have you kept up to date on the latest virtualization trends and their many attributes, benefits and challenges? Take our quiz and find out.