Virtualisation expected to grow in ANZ

VMware’s recent survey of more than 8,000 customers in Australia and New Zealand, found that businesses see virtualisation as a cost-cutting measure and the rate of adoption will continue to increase in the region.

Of the respondents, 44% considered IT cost management to be the main benefit of virtualisation, while 28% considered the main benefit to be virtual infrastructure management.

But while cost cutting is a key focus for 30% of ANZ businesses, 46% of respondents said business process improvement is more important than cost cutting.

The survey also found that 65% of businesses have deployed or are piloting data center virtualisation, while 47% have deployed or are piloting desktop virtualisation. Based on customers’ indications of plans to extend virtualisation projects, the number of businesses that have implemented enterprise-wide virtualisation is expected to double from 12% today to 23% in the next three to five years.

In addition to virtualisation, the results indicated a growing awareness of the benefits of cloud computing, with 15% of respondents saying they have deployed or are piloting cloud computing and a further 26% are evaluating the technology.

“This survey demonstrates the current interest in desktop virtualization and cloud computing technology,” said Paul Harapin, Managing Director of VMware ANZ. “Over a third of organisations foresee desktop virtualization as having a role with some or most of their new clients provisioned with the technology in the next five years.”