Virtualization has long been associated with large enterprises but how can small businesses take advantage of it? What exactly is virtualization and what does it mean for SMBs? Does virtualization add value to your business?
Dan Chu, vice president of emerging product and markets from VMware provides a clear definition of virtualization: “Virtualization enables one server or computer to act as many. Instead of keeping your important programs on separate servers so that if one application or server fails, the other applications aren’t affected, virtualization software lets you run many applications on the same server.”
Nowadays, because of Windows and Linux based server technology, SMB can use virtualization technology to manage their IT with limited budget and staffing. While not a necessary technology for SMB, there are benefits to virtualization as noted on SmallBusinessComputing.com:
· Rapid server deployment
· Improved virtualization rates of hardware
· Cost effective
Although virtualization seems like the right step in upgrading a business’s IT system, there are a few complexities that need to be taken care of:
· Server deployment
· Right hardware and software support such as VMWare
· Customized migration process
· Disaster preparedness – migrating data to new servers
Make sure to take a look at Dell’s virtualization offerings for SMB