Virtualization made its way into the mainstream data center with a strong cost-reduction value proposition centered around a straightforward tactic: server consolidation. Now, on the back of the success these projects achieved, virtualization is gaining a more strategic role in the IT landscape. As virtualization initiatives delivered tangible bottom line benefits–in some instances up to 60% reduction in capital costs–companies looked to virtualize more. With expanded use, virtualization becomes more than an operational tactic; it becomes the foundation for a new approach to IT. An approach where IT services are freed from the complexity of the hardware infrastructure that delivers






