Five Top Predictions for 2011 by MTI

MTI Europe announces five top predictions for 2011 within data centres, virtualisation and off the shelf-cloud industries.

MTI offers areas of focus for IT managers regarding their data centre strategy, maximising efficiency and management in virtualisation and how to navigate the route to cloud in 2011.

1. Virtualisation policies to tighten up: MTI predicts in 2011 data centres will become ever more complex as virtual instances increase in number, demanding more and more utility from incumbent hardware and requiring ever more management resource. This complexity will force IT leaders to tighten their virtualisation policies and work with people who are certified and focus on a few  key vendors. Customers will seek to engage with partners who offer "depth instead of breath".
2. Cisco’s UCS to gain further ground: MTI predicts increasing market share for Cisco’s UCS in 2011, particularly on the back of its increasingly successful coalition with EMC and VMware. This increase will occur mainly as enterprises look to further simplify their data centres and shared infrastructure. As with any hardware replacement, risk will be a significant factor when it comes to adoption and customers will want to (and will be able to) test their planned new environment for themselves before committing IT budget.
3. Virtualisation drives switch to integrated infrastructure: MTI predicts increased data centre complexity will force IT leaders to re-evaluate their data centre situation with a move towards deploying VCE Vblock Infrastructure Packages.  Legacy physical infrastructure is not always designed to manage the workload of virtualisation and thousands of bottlenecks for IT performance are looming in 2011.
4. Late-comers to integrated infrastructure may have to wait: MTI predicts as the market moves towards a more integrated approach, buyers will be challenged to find multi-vendor certified integrators to consult, design and install integrated infrastructure systems. Late-entry enterprises seeking to rollout integrated infrastructure may be forced to push back project timeframes until they can  access  the right skills. This will require system integrators that centre around a few, focused partnerships offering the right deals with the right depth to the customer.
5. Budget squeezes will cause a move to managed solutions: MTI predicts managed solutions will grow strongly as customers look for scalable solutions that deliver efficiency. These solutions will incorporate forward-planning and provisions for the future. With IT budgets continuing to be squeezed, the combination of dips in infrastructure performance and the dearth of available skills will make working with managed service providers highly compelling in 2011.