You may have heard the buzz term “virtualization,” but not be too familiar with it. Virtualization means creating a virtual form of computing, such as a desktop, operating system, server, storage device, or software.
Why should my business virtualize its IT systems?
- Better customer service: Virtualization will allow you to decrease planned and unplanned computer downtime. When this happens, you will automatically switch over to a backup server. Also, the server will have a snapshot of a time when the server was working. These snapshots will allow your employees to be up and running on their devices within minutes, instead of hours. Most importantly, your customers will be less likely to visit a downed website and leave it to your competitors.
- Reduced expenses: Virtualizing your tech systems will allow your IT department to consolidate data into fewer servers. Having less hardware to maintain will mean fewer licenses to buy, reduced use of facility space, lower power bills, and shortened work hours. Plus, a virtualized environment will leave you less tied down to a certain vendor, which means you can buy less expensive hardware and not necessarily need to have identical hardware on hand. The savings from virtualizing your business technology systems can go to your other business goals or invest back into more competitive technologies.
- More flexible working environment: Traditional technology systems will only allow you to run one operating system on one computer. Imagine being able to run multiple operating systems, such as Windows and Apple, on a single computer. You can do this by using different virtualized desktops on a single piece of hardware. This comes in handy when you need to use legacy applications that are not compatible with a single operating system. You can now use these applications on your primary computer and get rid of that outdated machine.
- Increased monitoring of the IT environment: The consolidation of devices decreases the complexity of the technology infrastructure, which lowers security risk. Within the virtual environment, IT admins can deploy custom security settings for each VM user so only certain people can get access to sensitive company information. If someone’s virtual machine becomes infected with malware, you can isolate the affected device, so it does not penetrate the corporate server. Also, the IT admins can roll back the infected device to the latest “secure” state before the attack.
Keep in mind that implementing a virtualized technology environment is not a one-size-fits-all solution. You will need to determine the right mix of hardware, software, server platform, network, processor, and infrastructure. SwiftTech Solutions can help you come up with a virtualization technology plan that suits your company’s requirements and budget. You can call 877-794-3811 or email info@swifttechsolutions.com for a free consultation.
SOURCES
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