Beyond the scope of server acquisition and management, virtual infrastructure will have an impact on network management, security management, storage management, and business continuity/disaster recovery management. Application owners also need to understand how their applications will function in a virtual environment and executive sponsorship is a key success factor for virtualization initiatives.
This downloadable worksheet will help in the identification of the following:
- Reach and impact of virtualization.
- Effected standards and procedures.
- Cost savings opportunities.
- Planning constraints and mitigation steps.
- Key stakeholders.
- High-level goals.
The most often cited challenges to virtualization are related to people and processes, not technology. Take some time to think about all the people and processes that would be impacted by virtualization. This exercise will help mitigate costly pitfalls in longer term virtualization efforts.
This downloadable tool is associated with the research note, "Virtual Servers Planning Goals: Take a Baby Bear Approach."