Data Center Managers Stranded on the Side of the Virtual Highway Know That Stall is Real

In a recent blog post, Bruce Hoard of Virtualization Review seems torn between our findings on virtual stall and how it is related to virtual sprawl. Customers tell us that their companies moved quickly forward on virtualizing the “easy” applications, but when projects turned toward business-critical, customer-facing and enterprise-wide systems, the enthusiasm for moving away from physical infrastructure sputters out and dies. There are innumerable companies out there stranded on the side of the virtual highway, and they will tell you that stall is a real problem.

Hoard points out our research findings and the natural overlap that’s presented itself, “These guys want it both ways. Sprawl, stall, which is it, Embotics?”

Interestingly enough, the blog’s reader comments said it all:

VMsprawl turns into VMStall when what is non-mission critical turns into mission critical -- that's when even the wall-to-wall Vmware shops realize they have gone too far too fast with virtualization and they can't rationalize joining the physical and virtual infrastructures together as the VMware side is so undermanaged it would put the enterprise at risk if they moved too many mission critical workloads over.

“Undermanaged” is the key word in that reader’s comment. Stalled enterprises don’t need jumper cables. They need adequate management tools that will empower data center managers to move forward with complicated virtualization projects.

Another reader replied:

What I can tell you is that in a couple of small shops I've worked in, yes, VM sprawl has stopped and maybe even turned into VM stall. Mostly because resources weren't sized correctly in the beginning and mgmt was reluctant to give more money or bigger servers or even more resources…

This fits what we’re seeing, as well. Virtualization didn’t get the vetting endured by most other projects, and it is therefore more susceptible to mid-deployment roadblocks.

While there might be skepticism behind Hoard’s blog, there is also skepticism prompting stall, which is a real and growing problem in data centers. Managers are concerned that virtualization can’t deliver everything it promises, particularly when it comes to the applications that matter the most. When those skeptics seek out information, they’ll find that VM automation and control products answers many of their concerns.

However, as Colin Steele wrote on IT Knowledge Exchange at the end of June, products alone will not solve this problem. Steele says, “the biggest cause of VM stall has nothing to do with technology and everything to do with bureaucracy,” and he’s right. And it will take not only automation and management solutions to cut through that red tape, but also more sharing of information and more clarity around growth planning and its impacts to all stakeholders…