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Voke Survey Sees Virtual Lab Management Becoming Heart of Application Lifecycle
Surveyed organizations save over $1 million on average by adopting virtual lab technology solutions
Analyst firm Voke, Inc. released the results of its second independent survey on virtual lab technology, Market Snapshot Report that examined “market readiness, awareness, use, benefits, and ROI of virtual lab management [VLM] technology.” It found a demand for and utilization of the technology rising.
The survey of 100 organizations using VLM technology was conducted between August 2009 and February 2010 and found that organizations are employing VLM far beyond the testing lab. They are also realizing “significant ROI from VLM technology in every usage scenario,” the company said.
The VLM market is growing rapidly since the first survey in March, 2007. “Solutions have matured and have seen broad adoption in the market. Economic conditions and application complexity continue to drive organizations to investigate and invest in technology that will deliver increased productivity and lower capital expenditures. In addition, since 2007, the number of vendors offering virtual lab management solutions has tripled.”
What has changed, Voke says, is the growth of VLM beyond its original intended use in development and test labs. “Virtual lab technology is no longer just for development, QA, and operations,” Voke said. New users include “sales, customer support, marketing, technical publications, and training.”
“Virtual lab management continues to prove itself as a rare, real, breakthrough use of technology revolutionizing the computing industry and the enterprise,” said Theresa Lanowitz, lead analyst for Voke, in a statement. “Virtualization remains the defining technology of the 21st century. VLM has proven to be immediately effective at containing costs, delivering efficiencies in the provisioning of lab equipment, and eliminating both perceived and real bottlenecks. The market potential for this technology has the opportunity to exceed the combined market penetration of hypervisor solutions and application lifecycle combined. This significant market opportunity exists in the application lifecycle market as well as non-development focused organizations such as sales, support, training, marketing, and many others.”
The survey looked at how VLM technology is used (and who is using it), how it was paid for, the reasons for its adoption, and the integration of VLM and application lifecycle management tools, as well as the “technology challenges that must be addressed to encourage further deployment.” Among its findings: All participants examining a commercial solution eventually adopted one. Use is also clearly rising; survey respondents said the technology “quickly delivers benefits, and as a result, is not likely to be rendered shelfware after a short period of usage”
Once the technology is installed its value demonstrated, organizations extend the technology to solve other problems.
VLM ’s ROI is measurable and achieved quickly. Among the key financial factors:
- 46 percent of those surveys said they reduced staff
- 38 percent reported improved productivity
- On average, organizations eliminated 57 servers
- On average, VLM saved organizations $1 million; Voke found savings from $105,000 to over $6 million
The firm says that, “Based on this research, it is clear that virtual lab management is poised to be the hub of the modern application lifecycle. For the first time in the history of the application lifecycle, the de facto nature of a technology, virtual lab management, streamlines and connects the key barriers between the three pillars of IT; development, QA, and operations.”
Additional information is available at www.vokeinc.com.