Virtualization is the number-one strategic technology for 2009, Gartner said at its Symposium/ITxpo in Orlando, Fla. this week.
Gartner analysts highlighted the top 10 technologies and trends it predicts will be strategic for most organizations, defining “strategic technology” as having the potential for significant impact on the enterprise in the next three years.
Taking it a step further, Gartner defines “significant impact” to include factors such as high potential for disruption to IT or the business, the need for a major dollar investment, or the risk of being late to adopt.
Gartner said the technologies impact an organization’s long-term plans, programs and initiatives. They may be strategic because they have matured to broad market use or because they enable a strategic advantage from early adoption.
“Strategic technologies affect, run, grow and transform the business initiatives of an organization,” said David Cearley, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. “Companies should look at these 10 opportunities and evaluate where these technologies can add value to their business services and solutions, as well as develop a process for detecting and evaluating the business value of new technologies as they enter the market.”
The Buzz About Virtualization
Virtualization, which ranked fifth on Gartner’s list last year, is on top for 2009. While much of the current buzz is focused on server virtualization, virtualization in storage and client devices is also moving rapidly, according to Gartner.
As Gartner sees it, virtualization to eliminate duplicate copies of data on real storage devices while maintaining an illusion to accessing systems that the files remain as originally stored can reduce the cost of storage devices and media significantly. Hosted virtual images deliver a near-identical result to blade-based PCs. But instead of the motherboard function being located in the data center as hardware, it is as a virtual machine.
“With the continuing adoption…