Driving Business, Virtually!

Virtualization has evolved from running extra operating systems into a mainstream tool for software developers. Virtualization allows developers to write a code that can operate in different environments and also to test that code. Benefits of virtualization encapsulate abstraction of computer resources, reduced operating and capital costs, improved utilization of computing resources, and greater IT staff productivity. According to a CDW-G report, 77% of agencies are implementing atleast one form of virtualization, and of those, 89% are benefiting from the technology.

Dataquest gathered the views of noted industry specialists at how having a roadmap on virtualization always comes handy. Dataquest in association with IBM, VMware, and Intel created a valuable forum for the discussion.

Industry Dynamics

For Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services, adding new business groups for insurance, loans, etc, may be in line with business needs and may work well for the group too. But, the scenario is difficult from the IT perspective as everything is set on main IT backbone. And this becomes difficult to handle. Insurance and personal finance require a larger space while there may be other verticals that require less space. Hence, the planning needs to be done offline and before deployment, says Suresh A Shanmugam, head, business information technology solutions (BITS), Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services.

For some the road of virtualization may be new but for others like Morgan Stanley it is a journey that they began on 12 years ago. We started with servers, then applications and finally desktop virtualization. Virtualization is not the only reply to any question but we need to understand what suits a customer or requirement. So, I will say that absorption of virtualization or blades is a part and parcel, says Yateen Chodnekar, VP, IT, Morgan Stanley.

Providing a view of the telecom sector, Alpna Doshi, CIO, Reliance Communications, says, In the last one-and-a-half years in India, the telecom has witnessed tremendous growth of more than a million subscribers per month. With this we surpassed all our earlier infrastructure needs. In the telecom industry, we find that plug-and-play, agility, etc have been used since quite sometime but we are still to reach a final stage. This is because the demand keeps increasing rapidly and it is not alone from the view of subscribers but the entry of new offerings like 3G, 4G etc. No physical infrastructure growth can meet data demand. We have already implemented virtualization for the networking world and are now implementing the same for the physical infrastructure world.

For a fashion retailer managing a large product cycle effectively is important. As a fashion retailer for 10 years, we have our own data center based out of our own premises and our aim is to use hardware infrastructure effectively, says Meheriar Patel, CTO & head, HR and admin, Globus Stores.

Rajneesh De, associate editor, DQ Week and DQ Channels, says that business drives technology and hence it is important for businesses to opt for what business needs.

Shilpa Shanbhag
shilpas@cybermedia.co.in