Quoting Australian IT

One company cashing in on the trend is software virtualisation expert VMware.

"Virtualisation and green tech will be central themes for chief information officers this year," VMware Australia-New Zealand managing director Paul Harapin says.

"People have become more environmentally friendly and I think green tech or whatever you choose to call it is one of the key things that will boost virtualisation, which is great for us," Harapin says.

Virtualisation will become "king" this year, he says.

"In 2007 customers were asking if they should virtualise and how quickly.

"It's no longer a question of whether to virtualise, because if you're not doing it you're going to be left far behind," Harapin says.

"Virtualisation will be ubiquitous in the data centre."

On the business front, Harapin expects VMware to exceed the rapid growth it experienced last year.

"Last year was great, with key wins, and we hope to emulate that this year," he says.

The versatility of VMware's offerings is evidenced by its clientele, from federal government agencies such as the Attorney-General's Department to gold producer Anglogold Ashanti Australia.

"We're pretty solid in most industries but if there's one area we'd like to do more in it would be small to medium business," Harapin says.

Software virtualisation has an important part to play in reducing the overall technology costs for small and medium businesses, which are extremely cost-conscious.

The education sector is also a major potential money maker for WMware.

With the federal Government's intention of ensuring every secondary school student has access to a computer at school, VMware hopes a mindset shift, from traditional PCs to thin clients, would happen before schools start applying for computer grants.

Thin clients consume less power compared with laptops and PCs, a fact not lost on the environmentally conscious Harapin.

Read the original article from Australian IT, here.