While I would agree with Andy Hopkirk's statement that the number of people interested in virtualisation is large (Windows Server: the verdict), I would not wholly agree that the number of those with the ability to experiment with virtualisation is quite small.

The drive for virtualisation is not coming from the lofty heights of academia or research, or from some long-developed strategic plan, but from the ground floor of computing Ð where daily firefighting with limited datacentre space, ever-increasing power requirements and the need to get better value out of
datacentre assets.

Virtualisation has moved rapidly from an interesting technology to an essential part of dealing with the datacentre challenges of the 21st century.

While the National Computing Centre might be able to stand back and take a strategic view, the average IT user cannot wait and wants today's solutions to today's problems.

As second-generation virtual server products have slashed prices without  sacrificing functionality, techniques which have been the preserve of the enterprise are becoming available to small businesses.

Virtualisation is not  optional. That bandwagon is rolling and it will not wait for people to catch up.

David Galton-Fenzi