Determining the return on investment (ROI) for virtualizing your server farm is a very tough proposition.  I know because I am struggling with a very similar task at work.  As far as I can tell, there are about a million different ways to go about it and no one agrees on the pros and cons of any approach.

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Obviously, I am not alone in this regard.  One quick trip to Google returns about a million hits for “calculating server virtualization ROI”. I did find one terrific article on CIO,com, that I recommend.

CIO,com – The Tricky Math of Server Virtualization ROI

“Server virtualization is supposed to save buckets of cash, largely from server reduction. After all, consolidating some 20 physical servers to three host servers means less hardware, power and cooling, and management overhead.

 

But wait! The math is much trickier than that — and unless you’re a large business, there’s a good chance it’ll cost you more than you save, at least from the outset. "Probably 50 percent of the small- and medium- business virtualization implementations I see are not cheaper than simply replacing the physical servers already there," says Matt Prigge, a virtualization consultant and InfoWorld Test Center contributor.”

In my case, the problem is an order of magnitude harder than normal because:

  • No one organization controls all of the resources.  One pays for electricity, one for space, another for personnel, and another for the engineering support.
  • No one decision maker is in a position  to give the GREEN LIGHT.  Consensus does not lead to aggressive action.
  • No funds are available for upfront capital investment.  The consolidations must use existing budgets and show a ROI within the planning period.

So, server virtualization is on my mind today.  Enjoy the article from CIO.com.  Their site is chock full of good information!

Have you struggled through this exercise?  Do you have a favorite case study, methodology, or example?  Do you want to share?  Please comment.

That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for January 7, 2010 ©Scott Coughlin .

Image Credit:BLDG BLOG

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