Verizon Business Helps Customers Unlock The Power Of Virtualization

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Aug. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- With virtualization in high demand by enterprises looking to boost efficiency and flexibility while controlling costs, Verizon Business is offering a series of tips for effectively planning and organizing the often-complex of task of implementing virtualization technology.

Virtualization uses technology to remove the physical barriers associated with servers and applications, enabling the consolidation or replacement of servers, storage, network and other physical devices. As a result, companies can better use computing capacity and drive more value from IT resources as well as consolidate data centers and lower energy consumption.

According to analysts at IDC, virtualization is one of the most sought-after IT technologies today, with services aimed at delivering virtualization projected to grow to nearly $16 billion by 2013, up from $8.7 billion in 2008.(1)
For enterprises embarking on a virtualization project, Verizon Business offers these five tips, culled from the company's years experience handling complex IT installations and expertise in implementing and managing virtual environments:

  1. Make sure you're looking at the big picture: A business should first
     complete a thorough assessment of its current IT environment and
     computing resources, including a full review of all servers.  Once the
     enterprise has a better understanding of its infrastructure, it is
     easier to determine which computing resources, such as servers and
     devices, are candidates for consolidation.
  2. Enlist vendor support: After compiling a list of applications that can
     be virtualized, it is important to confirm there will be very few, if
     any, issues with vendor support.  Some vendors, especially smaller
     ones, do not support their software on virtualized platforms.
  3. Evaluate licensing costs: When assessing applications for migration,
     evaluate the licensing costs associated with them.  While consolidating
     multiple servers and devices into a single virtual machine will lower
     hardware and facility costs, this does not necessarily apply to
     software licensing costs.  Many vendors still charge based on total
     available power and the number of physical applications.  If that's the
     case, consider working with vendors that embrace more flexible
     licensing models.
  4. Avoid common bottlenecks: Carefully assess the memory and storage
     requirements for applications moving to the virtual environment.
     Memory and storage can severely limit how many virtual machines a host
     can support.  A common scenario is an environment with consolidated
     storage and a high number of mobile BlackBerry users, requiring large
     memory and storage needs.   Therefore, assessment, management and
     proper allocation of applications per virtual machine are key.  5. Security, security, security: Security should be a top priority; it
     should be built in from the ground up to ensure the new environment
     comes with the right safeguards. Enterprises also should pay close
     attention to relevant industry regulations.  For instance, businesses
     that store, handle or process customer payment information must
     maintain compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security
     Standard (PCI DSS), a comprehensive set of requirements for enhancing
     payment account data security.  In that case, PCI DSS compliance would
     be a key requirement for the new virtual environment.
"Virtualization holds huge promise for the enterprise," said Michael Marcellin, vice president of Verizon global managed solutions. "Its ability to increase efficiency and agility while managing costs is unparalleled. With that potential, however, comes complexity concerning deployment and implementation. Our hope is that enterprises will take this promising technology to heart and embrace our suggestions -- based on our more than 10 years experience managing complex IT infrastructures -- on how best to utilize it."

Verizon Business offers a wealth of IT and hosting solutions to help customers meet their most-pressing IT needs in today's dynamic business environment. In addition to helping customers with virtualization projects, the robust portfolio of services also includes Data Center Colocation, Remote Backup and Restore, Messaging and Collaboration, IT Service Desk, Akamai Services, IP Application Hosting and Remote IP Application Management, as well as IT consulting services. More information is available at http://www.verizonbusiness.com/us/itsolutions.