Business hardware is never a small investment to make, so for a business to make the best use out of their invested funds, their hardware needs to be seriously considered. One way to do so is to use a virtualized environment, whether that environment is hosted onsite or in the cloud. Let’s consider the inherent benefits of virtualization.
The Shift in Business Computing
It wasn’t all that long ago that a business’ options were limited. Smaller businesses that wanted to expand their infrastructures had to purchase a new server and use it for a specific purpose. Given the hardware, data, and application control this gives the organization, it makes the most sense for a business with an IT support team onsite—assuming the business has a budget that can support it.
This is because a server used in this way doesn’t make use of its full capabilities. With each server dedicated to a single, specific purpose, there are a lot of resources potentially going to waste each time. However, in a virtualized environment, this hardware can be used for multiple processes, helping to vastly reduce the investment needed to support them all.
How Does Virtualization Work?
Instead of dedicating an entire server to each application you’re hosting, several virtual servers can share the resources on one piece of hardware. This means that the same processes that would once require four separate servers could now be accomplished with one.
Some Benefits of Virtualization
While virtualization does bring some significant up-front costs, the overall reduction in hardware costs can make these expenses worth it for many organizations, with the added accessibility this strategy provides serving as a nice externality. Not only can you reduce the infrastructure required to support your processes, but you can also reduce the need for your entire team to congregate into one place. These factors can combine to help result in hardware cost reductions ranging from 40-to-60 percent, with the cost of management, business utilities, and maintenance also reducing.
Businesses can then take these cost savings and reinvest them into forward-thinking initiatives while also making use of their improved capabilities. With new environments able to be created in mere minutes, and backups and security management consolidated substantially, efficiency is gained.
Cloud-Based Company Benefits
A virtualized environment can also be hosted in a bigger virtualized environment, as cloud resources are now more accessible, affordable, and secure than ever before. Pairing the benefits of cloud and virtualization can deliver even more substantial advantages for the cost of a modicum of data control.
Either way, putting virtualization to use can put some ease on your company’s finances. Interested in learning more? Reach out to ClearView IT at 866-326-7214 today.
