SMEs and independent organisations have been dipping their toes into virtual hosting for a while now, and the results are all positive – how will cloud computing cast its influence into the federal government?
Just at the top of our heads, what percentage of today’s conventional IT methods do we believe that virtual hosting will conquer? This isn’t a war, and certainly no battle. Although the revolution is still moving quite slowly, there’s plenty of potential yet. So what do we say – ten per cent? Or maybe even twenty? Could we be so bold as to say eighty per cent? Virtualisation will completely transform information technology – and it’s already started. But who needs encouragement?
Leading cloudware specialists offering virtual hosting have already thrown it out there; we could increase server utilisation by anything up to 95%. Shocking, but true – underutilisation is a major issue with physical servers, and a typical server is used from 5-15% of the time that it is powered on. You wouldn’t do that with your TV (or you shouldn’t if you’ve seen the adverts!) so why do it with computing?
How is Virtual Hosting Working for SMEs?
Virtual hosting doesn’t need fancy packaging, and it doesn’t even need a clever little strap-line. You can save time. You can save money. You can even save yourself from having to call that dreadful IT engineer again (not exactly the conversationalist!) This is why virtual hosting is working for all the smart business directors who have taken time to look into what cloud computing actually entails. Educational bodies such as schools and universities have also taken virtualisation onboard and made their IT delivery more efficient. This just leaves the British Government.
What’s Next for the Government and Cloud Computing?
Will government agencies move critical datasets to public cloud environments? Now that is unlikely. With so much debate about the safety and security of external virtual hosting environments, this is something that will probably never evolve as a possibility. But virtual hosting can be applied in private cloud environments, on-site within the boundaries of the government agency and safely stored for no-one else to tap into.
In order for virtual hosting to become a viable option for Government agencies, there needs to be an increase of vendors who can specifically cater to this. It is likely that there will be a boom of government-tailored virtual hosting products.
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