Microsoft: virtualise your way out of the credit crunch

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 4 Nov 2008 at 09:31

Microsoft claims virtualisation will help keep companies afloat during the credit crunch.

The company last week unveiled a beta version of Windows Server 2008 R2, which includes a new "live migration" tool, that allows companies to move virtual machines between servers without downtime.

Microsoft claims such features are in high demand at a time when companies are desperate to trim IT costs. "Live migration is something customers have wanted us to deliver for some time," Bob Visse, senior director in the Windows Server Marketing Group, told PC Pro. "We've come a long way in virtualisation in a relatively short time."

Visse claims that although Microsoft was relatively late into the virtualisation game, the company is now uniquely placed. "We're the only company you can go to to manage both the physical and virtual," he said.

And with last week's announcement of Windows Azure, the company's cloud-computing platform, Visse predicts many more companies will move away from maintaining their own server infrastructure.

"Companies are changing their computing environment to a virtual environment," he claimed. "At some point... they're going to want to move some of that ability into the cloud."

And as Azure is based on a revamped version of Windows Server 2008, Visse claims that move should be simple for most companies. "We have the ability to make that an easy and seamless transition," he said.

Yet, the deciding factor for many companies will be cost - and Microsoft is yet to reveal precise pricing details of Azure, nor even how it plans to charge companies for using its cloud-computing services. Until such a time, most companies will surely wait and see.