Are your virtualisation customers secretly planning a cloud escape?

It’s time to address the virtualisation elephant in the room. For years, it's been the go-to solution for businesses to consolidate resources and improve efficiency. But now in 2024, we're seeing a turning point.

While virtualisation has undoubtedly transformed how business managed their resources, the conversation among end-users today reveals a growing sentiment: businesses are re-evaluating their reliance on virtualisation as their primary infrastructure strategy.

The question is, why?

Virtualisation blues

Virtualisation, particularly server virtualisation, gained prominence in the early 2000s as companies sought to consolidate hardware, improve resource management, and streamline IT operations. Two decades on, however, many companies are reaching a virtualisation crossroads, facing the limitations and rising costs of current virtualisation solutions.

While virtualisation initially promised cost savings through server consolidation, the total cost of ownership (TCO) calculations now often includes hidden expenses such as licensing fees, maintenance costs, and the need for dedicated hardware resources. It requires considerable management overhead, such as maintaining hypervisors and ensuring virtual machines (VMs) are compatible with underlying hardware. Additionally, the abstraction layer between the application and the hardware can lead to performance bottlenecks, particularly for applications needing high I/O throughput.

Another issue we typically hear is that virtualisation architectures are often perceived as rigid and inflexible in the face of dynamic workload requirements. Modern applications require scalability and seamless integration across multi-cloud environments, which traditional virtualisation models may struggle to accommodate without significant customisation and overhead.

Virtualisation licences are also notoriously complex and expensive—even moreso when a business looks to scale. Meticulous planning is needed to forecast future needs and usage patterns, then make sure the correct type and number of licenses are secured.

But most painfully, it is increasingly seen as a technological dead end—with no capacity for businesses who want to leverage generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) and machine learning (ML).

The shifting market: virtualisation to cloud

According to a Gartner study, 85% of organizations will have adopted a cloud-first strategy by 2025. Interestingly enough, the two biggest drivers of this growth is GenAI and application modernisation—signalling that this shift is driven by the need for more efficient, scalable, and flexible solutions that traditional virtualisation struggles to provide.

Businesses can leverage Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offerings to bypass the need for on-premise virtualisation infrastructure. Cloud platforms like AWS provide virtually unlimited capacity, fully managed infrastructure, and agile, scalable resources.

But migrating to the cloud does more than solve pain points of virtualisation; it also empowers businesses to evolve. Here are key areas where cloud modernisation can drive business growth:
 

1. AI and machine learning: Cloud platforms like AWS offer fully managed AI and ML services, enabling businesses to innovate without the need for complex infrastructure. Whether it's generative AI, forecasting, anomaly detection, computer vision, natural language processing, or speech recognition, these services are designed to be easily integrated and scaled.
2. Serverless computing: Serverless architectures allow businesses to focus on business logic without worrying about managing servers or infrastructure. This model automatically scales to handle any workload, eliminating the need for manual intervention or capacity planning. The pay-as-you-go pricing ensures cost efficiency by avoiding idle capacity and wasted resources.
3. Managed database services: Cloud providers offer managed database services that abstract the complexities of database administration. These services include provisioning, patching, backups, and monitoring, with built-in features for high availability, durability, and scalability. Automated failover, read replicas, and horizontal scaling capabilities ensure robust and reliable database operations.

The opportunity cost: act now or lose out

The market’s movement towards cloud computing, coupled with business user underscores the urgency for businesses to adopt cloud solutions. As a partner, you play a crucial role in guiding your customers through this transition. With the projected surge in cloud revenue—Gartner estimates $678.8 billion global revenue in 2024 —now is the time to take action.

Customers are actively looking to transform their infrastructure, and require support in terms of migration services, ongoing cloud management, and consultation. This not only generates significant revenue streams for you but also strengthens your position as a trusted advisor. The opportunity cost for is significant; if you don't seize this moment, your competitors will.

At Westcon-Comstor, we understand the need for a smooth transition. Our Westcon AWS Virtualisation Starter Kit provides a proof-of-concept environment, allowing customers to experience the benefits of AWS technology through small-scale projects, making it an ideal starting point for those still reliant on on-premises virtualised environments.

If you’re ready to move beyond the virtualisation dead end, let’s talk.