Stephanie Balaouras

2009 was the year we focused on virtualization and consolidation of IT infrastructure to drive down costs. Virtualization and consolidation will remain top initiatives in the second half of 2009 as IT organizations strive to save more by expanding virtualization and driving up the ratio of virtual machine to physical server. But what’s next? For one, virtualization is changing IT management, processes, and roles but most organizations have yet to adapt. Second, a lot of initiatives were put on hold in 2009 to focus on projects that had an immediate return on investment. As a result, many organizations put off infrastructure upgrades, postponed ITIL process adoption, and stepped back from process automation. But in order to achieve the next level of IT operational efficiency we’ll need to reprioritize these initiatives. And by doing so, we’ll be in a better position to selectively leverage web, cloud, and outsourcing services to eliminate some costs completely.

If you want to learn more about these topics, please join my complimentary Webinar, "Transforming IT Infrastructure And Operations in 2010" on July 16th at 11AM EST. You can register for the session by visiting: www.forrester.com/ioassessmentwebinar.

By Stephanie Balaouras

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