Embotics, the Virtualization Lifecycle Management™ Company, today announced the sponsorship of a new research benchmark report entitled “Virtual Strategies: Managing Servers, Desktops and Storage for Infrastructure Efficiency” by Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE:HHS). The research details how best-in-class companies manage virtual servers, desktops and storage for greater efficiency. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit www.embotics.com.

Virtualization has spread rapidly over the past few years from a development tool to an essential component of IT infrastructure strategy. Companies adopt virtualization to increase desktop, server and storage utilization by running multiple applications or operating systems on a single system. A well-designed and deployed virtual infrastructure can reduce operating costs while increasing flexibility and infrastructure efficiency.

“Using virtualization effectively requires a thorough understanding of system architecture and design,” said Jeffrey Hill, senior research analyst, Aberdeen. “Companies who are starting on the path to virtualization will need to acquire experience, expertise and management systems to implement a virtual infrastructure that serves their requirements efficiently.”

Aberdeen’s research identifies that best-in-class companies ensure that applications running on virtual servers do not affect application performance. The best performance and maximum efficiency is attained by effectively managing all the components of the virtual infrastructure: the physical servers, the virtual machines (VMs) and their associated applications.

The study shows that firms enjoying best-in-class performance shared the following characteristics:

• 56% have software to manage VMs in their environment
• 73% have a formal process for moving virtualized applications from testing and development into production
• 92% have administrators trained in managing virtual servers, storage or desktops

“Embotics recognizes the value of research in best-in-class practices when it comes to the management of virtual infrastructures,” said Jay Litkey, CEO and founder of Embotics. “Our customers are always interested in best practices when dealing with managing and controlling virtual environments, and we are committed to bring them unbiased and relevant research in this area.”