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New Study Released On The State of Virtualization In Federal Agencies
GTSI Corp. today announced key findings from a recently conducted survey on the state of virtualization in the federal government. Developed by the Government Business Council (GBC) in partnership with GTSI and Oracle Corporation, the survey reveals the many hurdles faced by federal agencies in implementing virtualization and cloud computing. The results are of particular importance given the raised levels of government IT activity driven by the recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Feder
April 22, 2010
3 Min Read
HERNDON, Va., April 21. GTSI Corp. today announced key findings from a recently conducted survey on the state of virtualization in the federal government. Developed by the Government Business Council (GBC) in partnership with GTSI and Oracle Corporation, the survey reveals the many hurdles faced by federal agencies in implementing virtualization and cloud computing. The results are of particular importance given the raised levels of government IT activity driven by the recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Federal Data Center Initiative.
The OMB mandate requires all agencies to take decisive steps toward reducing the costs of maintaining more than 1,100 disparate federal data centers. Said Bryan Klopack, Director of Research for GBC, "The survey shows that while virtualization and cloud computing can be very beneficial, agency executives have limited knowledge and understanding of how to implement and operate virtualized IT environments."
Key findings from this in-depth virtualization study include:
Many federal executives are unfamiliar with virtualization: one-third (33 percent) of survey respondents say they have no knowledge of the concept of virtualization. A minority (13 percent) describe themselves as "very familiar," while 54 percent have some intermediate level of understanding.
Eighty-four percent of federal executives say that virtualization would benefit their agency. Respondents identify a number of incentives for their agency to virtualize their IT environments. Ranking high among these are COOP and disaster recovery and "greener" IT operations, which can reduce data sprawl and energy usage.
Virtualization faces many roadblocks at agencies, with 65 percent of federal executives citing "implementation difficulties," 63 percent indicating "operational/management difficulties," and 62 percent noting "end users' misconceptions about virtualization control and governance."
Federal executives cited the top two effective strategies for facilitating adoption of a virtualized environment as "education and/or training" (57 percent) and "government mandates and standards" (47 percent).
"Federal government agencies continue to be under pressure to control costs, increase energy efficiency, and maintain security," said Mohamed Elrefai, GTSI VP Enterprise Solutions Group and Marketing. "To achieve those requirements, federal agencies are adopting virtualization as a key component of their consolidation and optimization strategies. However, as the survey shows, respondents are challenged with how to effectively implement and operate virtualized environments, while addressing security and governance policies. At GTSI, we've seen this trend ourselves and help our federal customers on a regular basis migrate to and operate their virtualized IT environments."
The survey findings will be explored in detail on Tuesday, April 27, at 2:00 PM ET, when GBC, GTSI, and Oracle present a complimentary webinar entitled, "Virtually There: The Federal View of Virtualization Present and Future." Hosted by Mr. Klopack, the webinar also will feature Jim Sweeney, GTSI's Principal Solutions Consultant - Data Center and Virtualization Technologies, and Harry J. Foxwell, Ph.D., Principal, Oracle Corporation.
To register for the webinar, click here.The virtualization survey results will also be discussed at the upcoming Technology Leadership Series seminar on May 12, which will focus on addressing requirements of the OMB's Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative. To register or for more information about the seminar, please visit GTSI.com/TLS.
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