When most organizations start out, they require very little hardware or IT strategy to get going. A computer, phone and perhaps some office technologies such as a printer is often all you need to start growing your business. As your company expands, however, you will soon need to invest in new hardware, software and advanced IT solutions that support the automation, efficiency, productivity and security of your growing workforce.
As your business grows, so does the need to store an increasing amount of data. To do so, many companies invest in new servers.
The issue is, physical servers are expensive to purchase and even more expensive to maintain, and most small to medium-sized organizations simply do not have the resources to stretch their IT budget and invest in servers to support their workforce.
That’s why many small to medium-sized organizations in Ontario and across the world are turning to the benefits of virtualization.
What is virtualization?
Virtualization is a virtual version of an IT system such as a piece of hardware, software, network or operating system. For example, through virtualization your employees can use a physical machine’s full capacity by distributing its capabilities across many users and different environments.
This is where virtual machines (VM) come in handy. Virtual machines essentially act as virtual computers or virtual servers, allowing your employees to open up a window on their computer and utilize the functionality of another computer.
Virtual machines imitate the behaviour of another computer, allowing you to access software and other applications that would be typically bound to a physical piece of hardware. As a result, virtual machines take up significant less space and need less power to run.
How can using a virtual machine benefit your business?
Virtualization increases the availability of hardware and applications by “dividing” them through virtual machines across your company’s workforce. That means your most critical hardware resources and applications will be available on demand, resulting in less downtime and less technical support and the ability to reduce the amount of physical hardware that your company requires.
There are a number of ways that virtual machines will improve the performance of your company, offer you significant return on investment for your IT infrastructure and enhance business growth. We’ve listed some of the top benefits here:
#1 - Reduced hardware and server costs
There’s no doubt about it, hardware and physical servers are expensive. Here at OT Group, for example, we find that most physical servers only achieve up to 15 percent utilization rate - meaning your company is wasting money.
Thankfully, through virtual machines and the consolidation of your servers across multiple environments, we have been able to achieve 80 percent utilization for our clients. Virtualization ensures your business is getting the best performance and value out of the investment you have made into your IT infrastructure.
#2 - Replicate the set-up of an existing PC for new employees
Hiring new employees is essential for business growth, but it’s also expensive. Setting new employees up with the hardware, software and space they need is a big investment, and that’s not even including the costs of actually finding a highly-qualified candidate in the first place.
Virtualization makes it easy for you to make a complete copy of any machine. That means you can set up a new employee with a setup that replicates exactly that of an existing team member, without the investment involved in complete new hardware and software.
#3 - Ability to run multiple operating systems
Virtual machines allow users to work in multiple environments, meaning your employees that are using Microsoft Office can run a Mac operating system (or vice versa). This gives them access to applications and software that they wouldn’t have been able to utilize on their physical hardware.
Your employees will now have access to the tools they need to get their job done, without having to constantly ask the IT team to install new software on their local computer.
#4 - Improved disaster recovery and data protection
A large number of small and medium-sized businesses store their data on in-house servers - but this simply isn’t secure at all. Imagine someone broke into your office and stole your server, or your servers were damaged in a fire. There’s simply no way of recovering that data, which would be disastrous for your business.
Virtual machines replicate the data on your physical servers off-site in the cloud, meaning even if your physical servers suffer a disaster your company can be back online in a few minutes by recovering the data from your virtual backup.
Want to learn more about virtual machines and how they can benefit your small to medium-sized organization? Contact the OT Group team of Ontario-based IT experts today. We would love to help.