Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/caf00c/virtual_servers_pl) has announced the addition of the "Virtual Servers Planning Goals: Take a Baby Bear Approach" report to their offering.

Think big about virtualization while pursuing a careful incremental approach to implementation. Virtual machine implementation has the potential to reduce capital and operating expense while improving availability, energy efficiency, and flexibility of the server infrastructure. However, these benefits will be fully realized only when a critical mass of server infrastructure is virtualized.

Initial implementation of virtual machines, likely triggered by a need to acquire new server hardware as part of a hardware refresh cycle, should be viewed as the pilot for a longer term move to a full virtual infrastructure. Moving from an initial pilot implementation to a foundational virtual infrastructure will require planning, scoping, and goal setting.

The following steps are recommended:

• Start with a policy of “virtualize unless otherwise.”
• Perform a scope analysis to identify dependencies, opportunities, and stakeholders.
• Measure everything.
• Set some high-level goals and pull together a strategy document.
• Move ahead with the initial implementation.

The scenario example used in this research note will be the 100-server shop with an initial $100,000 purchase budget.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/caf00c/virtual_servers_pl