Shavlik Technologies released findings of a comprehensive survey designed to gauge market drivers for new virtualization and cloud computing initiatives in corporate IT environments. The survey found that data, server and licensing consolidation and disaster recovery functionality are the leading drivers behind new investments in virtualization technology. The Shavlik survey also revealed that the dramatically reduced IT costs associated with cloud computing is the principal reason IT managers are turning to the cloud for the delivery of IT security and management services

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The completed questionnaires were generated from 290 senior IT managers and staffers at industry events focused on cloud computing and virtualization including VMworld in San Francisco in September and multiple regional seminars across the country in both September and October.

"Our survey was more focused on factors driving market adoption for virtualization and cloud computing and not why IT should adopt these new technologies," said Mark Shavlik, CEO, Shavlik Technologies. "The respondents to the survey were knowledgeable and experienced IT pros and the results have a strong foundation in what we're seeing in the market."

The survey was conducted at VMworld 2009 and at Shavlik seminars in New York, Chicago and Dallas. The questions were about the use of virtualization technology and plans to implement cloud computing. The survey results reported:

• A vast majority, 93 percent, of IT organizations are using virtual machine technology.
• 75 percent of the respondents have more than half of their production servers as virtual machines.
• The key driver for adopting virtualization is server and licensing consolidation at 53 percent. Backup ranked as the second major driver, reported by 52 percent of respondents.
• Cloud computing is being examined for adoption by 58 percent of survey respondents.

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