A new study from Saugatuck Technology says server virtualization will have the single largest impact on budgets for IT hardware and support through 2010. The survey, titled "The Many Faces of Virtualization -- Understanding a New IT Reality," says that virtualization is a key enabler of IT and business efficiency, but is vastly misunderstood and underestimated within user enterprises. Because of that, the report A new study from Saugatuck Technology says server virtualization will have the single largest impact on budgets for IT hardware and support through 2010.The survey, titled “The Many Faces of Virtualization — Understanding a New IT Reality,” says that virtualization is a key enabler of IT and business efficiency, but is vastly misunderstood and underestimated within user enterprises. Because of that, the report finds that user executives fail to effectively manage it, and therefore fail to realize the full potential and benefits of IT virtualization. It goes on to say that IT vendors seldom realize the breadth and depth of opportunities that IT virtualization presents to them.The study finds that through 2010, all facets of IT virtualization will see substantial enhancements in functionality and performance, with the most significant enhancements in virtualization technology being found in microprocessor, hypervisor and operating system. Agreed, but a fairly generic claim. Things have progressed significantly within the virtualization market last year alone. So it seems almost certain that within the next three years, each of these technologies will surely be enhanced in any number of ways.The study also finds that through 2010, three vendors, Cisco, VMware and Citrix will dominate IT virtualization and account for 60 percent of all new virtualization deployments.Without further information, I would assume the report is combining network and server virtualization into this number since it included Cisco in that group. Curious that it combined them into the 60 percent number rather than breaking them out. And equally curious that the study ignored the emerging Microsoft Hyper-V platform into the server virtualization market. Surely over the next three years, the Redmond giant will account for some significant percentage of the new virtualization deployments. I guess they control some portion of the remaining and mysterious 40 percent. “We’re at a very critical point in the evolution and adoption of virtualization by both users and vendors. Almost everyone sees opportunity in virtualization, but very few really grasp its scope and complexity,” stated Saugatuck vice president Charles Burns, the study’s lead author. “That leads to a lot of missed opportunities — and some very inflated costs of management.” Burns continued, “Our goal with this study is to provide a foundation for understanding key categories of virtualization, their benefits, and how to manage them effectively.” The full 20-page study is available for purchase via Saugatuck’s Web site, here. Software Development