IT managers' virtual love

IT managers around the world love virtualisation, but their enthusiasm isn't always shared by senior managers. Perhaps they don't understand it.

When asked how relevant virtualisation was to them, more than 32 per cent of IT managers in Australia and New Zealand said it was a top interest, the highest by far of any key IT strategies. Yet only 9 per cent of senior managers saw virtualisation as that important, ranking it well behind security enhancements, mobile working solutions, integrated enterprise-wide information and localised software or service support. It's a trend echoed in Europe, although in Asia, where practically everything seems to be given as a top priority, senior managers seem to be more across the technology.

So the issue could be one of understanding what virtualisation is all about, or it could hark back to the different priorities between IT staff — who are more focused on cutting costs — and senior managers, who want technologies that will enable growth and drive customer satisfaction.

When it comes to trends to be considered when upgrading or replacing equipment, server virtualisation is top of the list. As the graph (below) shows, 22 per cent consider it very important, and a further 36 per cent consider it important, but less so.

Well over half of those surveyed saw server virtualisation as a key trend to consider when upgrading.

Compare that to just 28 per cent who see cloud computing as having any degree of importance. In fact, only 8 per cent of senior managers see cloud computing as a top IT strategy and the interest is largely confined to IT and telecommunications businesses, which you would expect to set the pace in that area.

It all seems to indicate that, for now at least, we want our data sitting on our own servers, not out there lost in a cloud.

For more information on how to get a full copy of ZDNet Australia's IT Priorities research results, email Theresa Muzinda.