Three savings you'll make with server virtualisation

Virtualising your server capabilities is the next big thing in IT infrastructure; early adopters are reporting encouraging results. And outside the world of IT speak, these results translate to something every businessperson will be interested in: savings.

Chorus IT has been providing IT services in Bristol for ten years; here, we look at three different kinds of savings that server virtualisation can offer you…

1. Cost savings

Money is often the biggest issue, so let's start with that. When you virtualise, you downsize: multiple servers can run on a single hardware unit, which saves you money on both hardware requirements and energy costs. An example not far from Bristol can be seen at Nationwide Building Society, where they are managing to trim £8m from their costs after virtualising 500 servers with Unisys. You don't have to be that large a company to succeed at this: just one virtualised server can do the job of between 10 to 15 separate machines.

2. Environmental savings

Because this reduction in hardware uses a lot less power and requires less cooling than running a bank of individual servers, you can make signficant savings on your IT-related energy consumption. For any business looking to reduce its environmental impact this is an important step. To take Nationwide's example again, they report that their virtualisation project has "significantly contributed to a decreased carbon footprint through a reduction in power and air-conditioning usage".

3. Space savings

Every growing business reaches the point where space for IT equipment becomes a constraint. The answer may not be to grow your server racks outward, but to grow your capabilities inward. Nationwide's example proves that you can do more with less: by the end of their virtualisation process, work that would have taken 500 physical servers will now be accomplished by just 42 machines.

Server virtualisation might involve some complex technical challenges, but one easily visualisable outcome is that you won't need a larger datacentre, new premises or a disruptive rearrangement of your existing space.

Discuss server virtualisation with a leading IT services company 

Chorus IT can help you fathom the possibilities and the obstacles to server virtualisation in your workplace, and can advise on other IT efficiency savings as well. If you would like to know more, please contact our sales team on 01275 398900.