Description
Virtualization has emerged as a tremendous solution for many of the challenges that IT organizations face today. Indeed, the need to maximize computing resources has never been greater:
- By 2010, the installed base of servers will approach 45 million units, with associated power and cooling
increases, according to IDC. - A 2008 study by McKinsey & Company showed typical server utilization rates averaging as low as
6 percent — far below the already paltry 15 percent estimate that prevails with conventional wisdom. - Gartner predicts that, by the end of 2009, energy costs will represent the second highest operating cost
(behind labor) in 70 percent of data center facilities worldwide.
These studies make it clear that the industry is currently deploying more capacity than it really needs. Moreover, energy fees, a below-the-line cost that was formerly taken for granted, will soon impact funding for new technology and the staff needed to run it.
