By
Jeff O'Heir & Joseph F. kovar
7 December 2007 03:00PM
Tags:
vars | virtualisation
Server virtualisation is not only one of the fastest-growing parts of the IT market, it's also one in which solution providers have already made their own. That is one of the main results of two recent exclusive CMP Channel surveys of solution providers about how important server virtualisation is to their business.
Server virtualisation is not only one of the fastest-growing parts of the IT market, it's also one in which solution providers have already made their own.
That is one of the main results of two recent exclusive CMP Channel surveys of solution providers about how important server virtualisation is to their business.
Server virtualisation is growing by leaps and bounds. IDC, for instance, estimated that the number of virtual servers deployed will rise 40.6 percent annually through 2010, with the result that 1.7 million physical servers will be shipped to virtualise 7.9 million logical servers.
In one of those surveys, the CMP Channel 2008 State of the Market Study, 22.6 percent of the solution providers surveyed are already currently selling or recommending virtualisation products of some sort, including server and/or storage virtualisation.
Those solution providers who sell server virtualisation products such as technology from companies like VMware, SWsoft, or Citrix, or related solutions, are currently seeing that technology already account for an average of 20.3 percent of their revenue.
Solution providers said that server virtualisation is a big part of their business, but are divided about just how widespread the technology has become in the channel.
Chris Taylor, director of professional services and solution sales for Evolving Solutions, a IBM-focused solution provider, said the thought that nearly 23 percent of solution providers seems somewhat high.
For instance, Taylor said, it could depend on how the question is asked. "Are they selling virtualisation, or selling a server which someday may have VMware installed," he said. "They may actually be selling a strategy, a server or a blade server to be virtualised later. Or they may really be selling virtualisation."
For Stan Staszak, director of System i and System x for Sirius Computer Solutions, a IBM solution provider, 23 percent actually seems low.
"Server consolidation and IT optimisation is hot, especially in the x86 space where servers are typically 10 percent utilised," Staszak said. "Solution providers who aren't doing virtualisation are missing the boat."
Solution provider presence in the server virtualisation market is growing fast, according to the CMP Channel Virtualisation Study. Of those solution providers who are in the server virtualisation market, 52.3 percent of them have been there for less that 12 months.
And those solution providers are finding that customers depend strongly on them to bring server virtualisation technology to their data centers.
According to the survey, 47.7 percent of server virtualisation sales stem from the customer looking for a server solution which the solution provider turns into a virtualised opportunity, while 40.7 percent of sales come when solution providers proactively bring server virtualisation technology to the attention of customers. Only 10.5 percent of sales are the result of customers asking about server virtualisation.
Server virtualisation is definitely a solution sell, said Staszak. While some of the benefits of the technology, such as reduced power, cooling, floor space, and maintenance requirements and better control of data backups, are tangible to customers, there is so much more that can be done. "If customers are not exposed to server virtualisation, it's up to the VAR to bring it to their attention."
Customers are not only thinking about server virtualisation, they are bombarded by it, Taylor said. "They'd have to be living in a shell to not see it," he said. "But you need to sell it to get them to make the leap. Virtualisation is really an intangible. You can't touch it or feel it. When we do virtualisation studies, we show how customer can remove old servers, show them the management cost, the power cost, and all the savings."
See original article on CRN.com