Storage virtualization going mainstream

This time last year, desktop virtualization was the talk of the town in IT circles. If analysts are to be believed, however, 2008 could be the year that storage virtualization takes off in the enterprise--and starts showing a little return on investment (ROI) to boot. According to a new study by IT analysis firm TheInfoPro, roughly half of the Fortune 1000 companies that are currently testing storage virtualization will start using the technology for full production use during the next two years. "There is still a lot to go. This trend is expected to continue up in 2008 and 2009," TheInfoPro's Managing Director of Storage Research, Robert Stevenson said. "The number of storage organizations that are users of block virtualization has almost doubled since 2006, to 21 percent in 2007 from 13 percent." As storage virtualization can make use of physical storage that would otherwise go to waste, the technology can hook enterprises up with significant storage savings in the long run. If you haven't yet looked into the tech, you might want to book up some testing time in your 2008 roadmap.

For more on the latest virtualization trends:
- see this eWeek article