The 5 reasons for slow adaptation of virtualization in mid-size companies

"Analyst predicts that almost half of all servers in every large business will be virtualized by 2010. But med-sized business have been slower to embrace virtualization, in spite of processor virtualization at under 15 percent and virtualization easier and cheaper to implement".

I saw the above quote on the Microsoft virtualization website and after reading it, I begon thinking; what could be the cause of the slow adaptation of virtualization in med-size companies? I thought for a while and these are the reasons I came up with:

1. Business leaders are afraid of the unknown and bucking the trend
2. Supplier slow adaptation
3. Training and skill cost
4. Capital cost and budgeting constraints
5. Microsoft late entry into the virtualization market

1. Business leaders are afraid of the unknown and bucking the trend
Up until the last two years virtualization was only familiar to those who know VMware. And then it was seen as a Linux/Unix system. Bear in mind that in business; put most of your eggs in one basket is not something to do. So when business decision makers were told you can run some of your servers on one box (even with all the redundancy in place) is still a scary thought. Maybe some don't want to put their head on the block, becuase should any thing go wrong they will ave to justify their decision to those who might be againt the decision to virtualize in the first place.
2. Suppliers slow adaptation
As I write this, there are supplies who will tell you they will not support their application if you put it on a virtual server. Therefore, some businesses are caught "between a rock and a hard place", and the easiest option is to continue as is, to keep the suppliers happy. Many application suppliers have not spent the time or money to see how their application would perform in a virtual environment, and for some, their clients have caught them off guard. Thus, the easiest thing to do is deny support. I would suggest is; if the application is not part of your core business then its easy to source a different supplier but if it is you have to take a more cautious approach.
3. Training and skills cost
The cost of Virtualization training today is relative. It cost a lot when I first did mine in 2004 and it was not just for me it was for the whole team. Therefore, you can imagine the look on the face of the person who has to approve the invoice. Virtualization training it is a big investment and many mid-size companies are not prepared to make it; even though the cost have comedown drastically (because of competition in the market). You might say why not train one person and have him/her train everyone else. Companies have tried this, some succeeded and some failed because that person left as soon has they received the training making it bad for others. I don’t think the market is saturated wit well skilled virtualization professionals yet, so the salaries are competitive. Therefore, companies waiting for the skill cost to become affordable will be late in implementing the technology.
4. Capital cost and budgeting constraints
Let’s face it, if you want to implement a solid virtual infrastructure; some thing that will not keep you up at night you need to spend money. Therefore, some of the businesses that have delayed implementing virtualization might have looked at their objectives against their budget, and decided no. Because some businesses cannot afford to implement a robust system or spending that amount of money on IT infrastructure is not part of the current business plan. It could also be that many of these businesses are happy with their existing systems, and see that it would be better to replace their existing systems (to take advantage of the new technology) than to upgrade and they are not ready for that type of capital expenditure.
 
5. Microsoft late entry into the virtualization market
For many companies that are considered mid-size, most of their server systems are Microsoft windows. When VMware was shipping its early versions of ESX server none of its major competitors were ready. Also at the time many of these companies did not know what virtualization was and might have being waiting to hear from Microsoft and its position on this technology. With its own development and a few acquisitions, Microsoft has just begun to state it claim on the virtualization market. I beleive now, many more companies will begin to test and implement virtualization in their infrastructure.
Virtualization carries a lot of benefits for any organization whether large or small. First and formost you get to consolidate your servers thus, reducing server room space (by getting rid of under utilise servers), the amount of electricity you use and the list goes on.