Fifty-nine percent of tier-one banks are implementing virtualisation in IT, according to KRC Research in a report commissioned by Microsoft.

Curious that Microsoft sponsored such a report – industry experts have long thought the company had a very limited interest in virtualisation because it would reduce the number of Windows licenses an enterprise needs. Microsoft bought Boston-based Softricity in 2006 and more recently it has acquired other virtualisation firms. More than one person has told me Microsoft bought Softricity to get it out of the marketplace. But with VMW taking off, perhaps the company had no choice.

Now Microsoft offers infrastructure virtualisation software as part of the Windows platform, withHyper-V and Terminal Services available within Windows Server 2008, along with a comprehensive management platform, Microsoft System Center, to manage both virtual and physical infrastructure and applications.

The KRC report says virtualisation is used across multiple IT infrastructures, including application (61%), networking (54%), machine operating systems (48%) and presentation (27%).

“Banks realize the impact virtualisation can have on operations, from the data center to the desktop, and how it should be embraced as part of an enterprise-wide infrastructure strategy,” said Rich Feldmann, managing director of the US financial services group at Microsoft. “Virtualisation helps create the foundation for innovative banking applications and channels by producing an agile infrastructure. While banks are known as early adopters of technology, this survey indicates that more than one-third are still on the sidelines waiting for greater value and ease of use before adopting.”

Virtualisation helps make more effective use of existing hardware investments and significantly improve IT agility, said Kathleen Khirallah, managing director and practice leader, Global Banking, TowerGroup. “These emerging technologies are helping today’s bank compete more effectively in an ever-changing market by helping people anticipate and respond to business challenges and opportunities rapidly and effectively.”

Fifty-three percent of those implementing virtualisation reported that it makes it easier to centralise deployment and manage applications, and an equal number reported that it produces cost savings while 51% reported that virtualisation makes it easier to respond to issues such as failures of applications or systems.

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