*To subscribe to this newsletter, where you will get an email notification each time the new issue is ready, simply register here.

Currently, virtualization enables users to efficiently leverage the compute capacity available within an organization across similar platforms. In addition to gains in utilization levels, virtualization has far-reaching impact on the cost of IT, turnaround time, and management of infrastructure. Virtualization also enables consolidation, so that end users are able to effectively harness the capacity present within their existing infrastructure.

Moving forward, we expect vendors to couple several management and automation tools with virtualization software in order to provide end users the capability to further reduce manual time and to create a more dynamic IT environment. This would help run the infrastructure in a more seamless and intelligent manner, and unhinge IT assets from their physical location to make them centrally available to users across multiple departments. Eventually, we foresee that common virtualization tools will be used across different platforms.

Key virtualization drivers are:

Two primary benefits of virtualization to an organization are:

At the outset, end users must understand the capabilities and limitations of the currently available virtualization tools in the market, along with industry direction; this is important in order to isolate hype from reality. Thereafter, the organization should conduct an audit of its IT environment to better understand its virtualization possibilities, and the potential benefits, before implementation.

At the selection stage, end users can choose a vendor that best suits the organization's needs. Virtualization is possible across the hardware and software layers of an organization's IT infrastructure. It can be deployed at the access layer, application layer, platform layer, and the storage systems layer. Depending on the level and need for virtualization, end users can partner with vendors that cater to these respective spaces.

IDC believes that it is worthwhile for organizations to examine ways to reduce silos and share IT resources across business units. Companies will face internal resistance at this stage, because change implies a significant departure from the traditional approach: every business division having its own IT infrastructure. However, identifying opportunities for IT consolidation helps to lay the foundation for a service oriented architecture (SOA), which demands higher standards across the organization.

Key challenges of virtualization include:

Organizations are increasingly keen to know the benefits of new IT investments. CIOs and IT managers also have to justify ROI. In the case of virtualization, the benefits range from cost benefits to increased efficiency. IDC recommends that organizations understand and measure the promises offered by vendors before implementation, and that end users keep their internal goals in mind, such as:

A solid infrastructure is vital to an organization's IT capabilities. Thus, at IDC's Asia/Pacific InfraVision Conference 2006, we will discuss two solutions that we believe will help to change the face of the datacenter: virtualization and SOA.

IDC believes that there is a strong link between virtualization - an important step to facilitate SOA, which requires more simplification and less rigidity within an organization's infrastructure, and one of the fundamental technologies that can have an extensive impact on the procurement trends of organizations, and SOA - the end-goal for most organizations today.

This conference aims to educate end users about available virtualization technologies, and foster understanding of the evolving virtualization market.

The underlying theme of the conference is "harnessing the power of SOA and virtualization." The conference will address topics such as: