NEW YORK, N.Y., Jan. 15 – TheInfoPro, a service of 451 Research, released its latest Servers and Virtualization Study, indicating a major refresh of x86 server infrastructure and the associated network, storage and software technologies required to optimize performance in virtualized, cloud-ready datacenters. Conducted during the second half of 2012, TheInfoPro study identifies key initiatives of senior server infrastructure managers and examines market factors and major players. This annual study is based on extensive live interviews with server professionals and primary decision-makers at large and midsize enterprises in North America and Europe.

Highlights from the TheInfoPro Servers and Virtualization Study include:

• Server virtualization projects are still driving activity and spending across much of the IT marketplace, with less than a third of respondents considering their environments to be sufficiently virtualized. 
• The majority of respondents are undertaking a major refresh of their x86 server infrastructures together with the network and storage technologies that are required to optimize performance in virtualized, cloud-ready datacenters. 
• In the x86 environment, which represents more than 80% of respondents' computing capacity, average virtualization levels have increased 13% from last year to 51%, with a notable increase at the higher levels, roughly doubling the number of organizations virtualizing production applications. 
• The complexity and interdependency of storage, network, server and software in virtualized environments is driving interest in 'integrated infrastructure' solutions, which include unified computing and converged and appliance-oriented infrastructure. In these categories, general-purpose offerings – especially those that are composed of multivendor components – are gaining favor, with offerings from Cisco and its array of partners being the most widely mentioned by respondents. 
• From the software perspective, attention is switching from base virtualization capabilities to the automation tools required to manage production workloads in virtualized environments: service catalogs, usage-based reporting and accounting (show-back), service-level monitoring tools and runbook or script-based automation and provisioning. 
• With most organizations embroiled in virtualizing business-critical production workloads, it is hardly surprising that vendors closely associated with the technologies required to build cloud-ready, virtualized datacenters top the list of exciting vendors. This strongly favors VMware as the dominant virtualization provider for x86-based infrastructure, and Cisco for hardware vendors. Both vendors also top TheInfoPro customer ratings for promise and fulfillment.

"Server virtualization projects are still dominating IT activity, creating a one-time spending bubble as organizations lay down the foundation for a cloud-ready infrastructure," said Peter ffoulkes, TheInfoPro's Research Director for Servers and Virtualization. "Complexity is driving interest in converged infrastructure solutions, with 13% of respondents planning to implement the technology for the first time within the next two years."

Research Director and report author Peter ffoulkes will host a 451 Research Innovation webinar on January 31 to discuss the report's findings.

Webinar Details:

• Title: The State of Server Virtualization in 2013
• Date: January 31, 2013
• Time: 2 pm ET
• Presenters: Peter ffoulkes, Research Director, Servers and Virtualization
• Registration: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/194994561

About TheInfoPro Servers and Virtualization Study

TheInfoPro's Servers and Virtualization Study takes an in-depth look at key industry trends and tracks the performance of individual vendors. Now in its ninth year, this study was finalized in December 2012. TheInfoPro's methodology uses extensive interviews with a proprietary network of IT professionals and key decision-makers at large and midsize enterprises. Each interview explores several fundamental areas, including the implementation and spending plans for more than 30 technologies, evaluations of vendors observed from business and product perspectives, macro IT influences transforming the sector, and factors affecting decision-making processes. Results are collated into comprehensive research reports providing business intelligence in the form of technological roadmaps, budget trends and vendor spending plans and performance ratings. A sampling of vendors covered in the Vendor Performance and Technology Roadmap components of the study include BMC Software, CA, Cisco, Citrix, Dell, EMC, HP, IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, Red Hat, ServiceNow, SolarWinds, VCE and VMware.

About 451 Research

451 Research, a division of The 451 Group, is focused on the business of enterprise IT innovation. The company's analysts provide critical and timely insight into the competitive dynamics of innovation in emerging technology segments. Business value is delivered via daily concise and insightful published research, periodic deeper-dive reports, data tools, market-sizing research, analyst advisory, and conferences and events. Clients of the company – at vendor, investor, service-provider and end-user organizations – rely on 451 Research's insight to support both strategic and tactical decision-making. 451 Research is headquartered in New York, with offices in key locations, including San Francisco, Washington DC, London, Boston, Seattle and Denver.

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Source: 451 Research