Demand for virtualisation management increases

Strong demand for server virtualisation management software is set to raise revenues for global virtualisation software by 43% to hit $2.7 billion this year, according to Gartner, states ZDNet Asia.

In its latest report, the IT research firm estimated global virtualisation penetration to hit 20% this year, up from 12% last year.

Alan Dayley, research director at Gartner, said: "Server virtualisation management technology is designed to reduce total cost of ownership, reduce associated availability risk and improve quality of service.”

Virtualisation management tools vendor Veeam Software has signed its first two UK distributors and says it can ease the virtualisation pathway for HP and Microsoft resellers, reports CRN.

Following its debut in September, Veeam has signed a UK agreement with distributor SCH Distribution and a pan-EMEA partnership with storage company Magirus.

In addition to Veeam's portfolio of tools for ESX Server environments, resellers can offer Veeam's 'Nworks' connectors, which give customers with HP OpenView or Microsoft System Centre Operations Manager-based estates the ability to manage VMware from a single console.

Business continuity planning is an essential task for any organisation to minimise the effect of unexpected events, from IT security threats to technical failures or even natural disasters such as fire or flood, says VNUNet.

A successful continuity plan often means striking a difficult balance between cost and acceptable risk. Coping with IT-related risks in particular is often seen as an expensive challenge.

The emergence of virtualisation as a tool to streamline IT operations now offers a potential solution. The ability to rapidly switch workloads between virtual servers on different sites means IT managers can now put forward a means to improve disaster recovery at lower cost.