Virtualisation ‘gaining ground’

Trade

Bring your own device: The BYOD concept is also gaining traction in Ireland, says Citrix

A third of the Irish channel say their customers are using virtualisation across the entire organisation, while the remaining two-thirds say customers are in the process of evaluating the technology.

These statistics emerge from a recent channel survey by Citrix Systems Ireland.

Citrix says desktop virtualisation and server virtualisation present the best sales opportunities in Ireland – with 47% of respondents highlighting desktop virtualisation as the best selling technology, followed by server virtualisation (42%).

By 2014 there will be an evolution in the virtualisation landscape, with 55% of respondents believing desktop virtualisation to be the key revenue-generating technology, while a further 45% suggest virtualisation sold as part of a broader cloud initiative will drive sales.

With the belief that cloud computing will change the way the channel does business, 48% of respondents claim to have already made changes to their business model to accommodate cloud services. And 16% plan to do so this year while a further 16% are monitoring the uptake of cloud computing services. Only 12% do not think that cloud computing will make an impact on their business model.

The BYOD (bring your own device) initiative – the concept of employees using personal devices for work purposes – is also gaining traction in Ireland, where 87% of those polled reported “considerable” or “some” growth in demand for virtualisation technologies to support the use of consumer devices (such as tablets or smart phones) in the workplace.

Kevin Bland, Citrix channel director for Ireland and the UK, notes: “Our partners understand that in three years the idea of being dependent on a single computer or location for work will be long outdated.”

“To support this shift in attitude, we continue to offer extensive education and training initiatives to help partners and their customers access the latest virtualisation technologies.”

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