Gabriel Consulting Unveils Key Findings of 2010-11 Unix Server Vendor Research
Enterprise IT Customers See Diminishing Virtualization Returns; Concerns About the Cloud
BEAVERTON, Oregon – June 20, 2011 — Gabriel Consulting Group (GCG), an independent analyst firm, today released key findings of its fifth annual 2010-11 Unix Server Vendor Preference Survey, a report focused on vendor selection trends among 306 enterprise data center managers responsible for data centers of all sizes.
Key findings from the ‘Virtualization’ section of the survey include:
- Nearly 70% of enterprise customers surveyed said that half or more of their Unix servers are running multiple workloads.
- A majority of customers, 71%, said they are seeing higher server utilization rates.
- Just over half said that virtualization is making it easier to meet their service level agreements.
- Fewer than half of Unix users said that virtualization has reduced their server management chores.
“Almost every customer using commercial Unix has adopted virtualization to some extent, and they’re seeing benefits from it,” said Dan Olds, Principal Analyst at GCG. “But we’re seeing some disturbing trends. As virtualization use and utilization rates rise, customers are saying that systems and workload management is becoming more difficult. Virtualized systems are supposed to make management and hitting SLAs easier – but that’s not happening today.”
The survey also asked customers whether they’re using cloud computing, and how the cloud might address their IT needs. On these topics, the survey found that:
- Less than one-third of enterprise Unix customers are using public clouds.
- Half of the respondents are currently building their own private cloud infrastructure.
- Half believe that the cloud will increase IT flexibility and speed; less than half believe it will significantly reduce IT costs.
“While cloud computing is getting a huge amount of press, the folks in the heart of the enterprise data center are taking it slow,” said Olds. “About half are building their own private clouds, mainly to increase their flexibility and speed. They’re a bit skeptical about public cloud computing reducing their overall IT costs.”
GCG is also releasing findings from other sections of the 2010-11 Unix Server Vendor Preference Survey. More information and detailed results are available here. Connect with Dan Olds and GCG on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
About Gabriel Consulting Group
Gabriel Consulting Group is a research, analysis, and consulting firm dedicated to helping clients achieve maximum return on their Information Technology investment.
###
Contact: Dan Olds
503-372-9389 Office
503-730-5072 Mobile