Forrester Research has shown that 50% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) surveyed worldwide plan to implement virtualisation in some form within the next 12 months.
Lisa Strydom, VMware reseller manager at VMware SA, communicated this to customers at VMware's partner summit, pForum, held in Midrand this week.
She said: “SMEs are cautious of virtualisation, but their interest in acquiring virtualisation technologies is steadily growing. VMware vSphere 4 is now also addressing the needs of SMEs much better and more successfully than before.”
A key development in vSphere 4, Strydom noted, is that it now includes backup and recovery solutions for the SME market. This is an important issue for SMEs, she said, which previous versions of vSphere and other virtualisation technologies on the market did not effectively address.
Strydom added that another pressing issue for SMEs is access to applications. “SMEs increasingly need access to applications as their business grows and as the way of doing business with customers evolves.
“With vSphere 4, SMEs are now ensured always up-time. And in case a server does fail, the backup and recovery built into the solution will ensure the business is running as before in mere seconds,” she said.
Products available from VMware specifically tailored to the SME market include vSphere Essentials, vSphere Essentials Plus, and vSphere Advanced Acceleration Kit.
According to Strydom, these products cater for a range of SME needs, from those managing a two physical server environment to those with a 30 physical server environment.
Consider growth
However, while these products effectively address SMEs needs at present, the future growth and expansion of an SME business should always be considered, Strydom added.
“Although the Advanced Acceleration Kit will work for SMEs with more servers, it might be better to invest in an entry-level enterprise product, such as vSphere Enterprise Plus, with more capabilities, to address problems that might arise as a result of company growth.”
Strydom pointed out that vSphere Essentials and vSphere Essentials Plus cannot be upgraded at reduced costs, and SMEs will have to purchase vSphere Enterprise and vSphere Enterprise Plus if they need more functionality.
“It might therefore be a better option for an SME to go for an enterprise package from the start, which will address current consolidation, backup and recovery as well as security needs, but also the needs as the business expands, without having to pay twice for a solution,” she concluded.
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