ORGANIZATIONS ARE MOVING TO WINDOWS SERVER. 2012, BUT OVER TIME ... new devices, operating systems and service delivery
WINDOWS SERVER 2012 Migration/Virtualization Survey 2013
CONTENTS
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METHODOLOGY
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INTRODUCTION
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IT CHANGE IS THE NEW CONSTANT
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ORGANIZATIONS ARE MOVING TO WINDOWS SERVER 2012, BUT OVER TIME
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DATA PROTECTION IS TOP OF MIND FOR ORGANIZATIONS
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MIGRATING TO WINDOWS SERVER 2012
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METHODOLOGY
Symantec commissioned King Research to field a survey of IT professionals during the period of November 2012 through March 2013, totaling 530 organizations throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and the Asia/Pacific region. The businesses surveyed ranged from 50 to more than 1,000 employees.
Symantec surveyed
530 global organizations
50 to more than 1,000 employees 3
INTRODUCTION
Like a juggler who keeps adding more and more items to the circle spinning above his head, IT today is adding new technologies at a frantic pace. Between new devices, operating systems and service delivery platforms, it’s only a matter of time until something gets dropped. Fortunately, one of the drivers of change in business technology today is virtualization, which can help take some of this burden from IT administrators, so they can focus on juggling fewer items. Virtualization can make an organization more flexible and reduce costs, which is more critical in a time when IT departments have to accomplish more with fewer resources. With virtualization cropping up everywhere in the market today, organizations need a stable platform to support it. Fortunately, Windows Server 2012 offers a number of virtualization improvements, in addition to improved data deduplication and enhanced file systems. And yet some organizations hesitate with new upgrades due to costs and issues with application and hardware compatibilities. The survey was created to assess attitudes of IT organizations toward the migration to Windows Server 2012, their adoption plans, and general trends surrounding virtualization.
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IT - CHANGE IS THE NEW CONSTANT Businesses are taking a closer look at virtualization because of ongoing changes in applications and user needs. And it’s going to keep making a big splash in data centers as we see more evolution of the IT infrastructure. Today, only 18 percent of respondents have at least 75 percent of their IT environments virtualized. However, more than half of respondents (52 percent) plan on moving to a fully virtualized environment within the next two years.
Only 18% have at least 75% of their IT environment virtualized
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52% plan on full virtualization within two years
As far as the organizations that haven’t implemented virtualization technologies yet, the top inhibitors include insufficient cost savings, adequate current physical environments, lack of time and resources to migrate, and increased complexity with moving to a virtualized environment.
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ORGANIZATIONS ARE MOVING.... ...TO WINDOWS SERVER 2012 - BUT OVER TIME More than half of the organizations surveyed (56 percent) have plans to move to Windows Server 2012, but most of them (93 percent) haven’t actually made the move yet. For those that are planning to migrate, 13 percent plan to make the move after the first service pack. 15 percent within the next 6 months, 17 percent within the next 12 months and 11 percent in more than 12 months. The survey results show us that a few different challenges are playing a part in this slow adoption rate. Like other IT changes today, the cost of the upgrade is a significant factor, but there are other concerns as well. Some businesses are still happy with their current version of the software, feeling that it meets their needs adequately. Meanwhile, with ever-increasing applications IT needs to support, ongoing questions about their compatibility with the new version of Windows Server 2012 are also having an effect, along with hardware compatibility.
Inhibitors: Upgrade costs Happy with current version Compatibility concerns
The survey also revealed that the most important reason companies are making the change to Windows Server 2012 is its virtual desktop infrastructure improvements. Other important factors include updates to Hyper-V Server Virtualization. Businesses are also interested in the resilient file system (ReFS) of Windows Server 2012. ReFS provides improved scalability with storage pooling in the virtual environment, as well as compatibility with existing APIs.
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Since businesses are always looking to improve server functionality, the survey also asked what servers have been or will be migrated in conjunction with the move to the new version of Windows Server. The top responses were Microsoft SQL Server (67 percent), Microsoft Active Directory Exchange Controllers (61 percent), Microsoft Exchange (58 percent), File and Print Servers (54 percent) and Microsoft SharePoint (52 percent).
Top responses: • 67% Microsoft SQL Server • 61% Microsoft Active Directory Exchange Controllers • 58% Microsoft Exchange • 54% File and Print Servers • 52% Microsoft SharePoint
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DATA PROTECTION IS TOP OF MIND
While the influx of new applications, operating systems and virtual environments have IT in a continual state of change, one thing that needs to remain constant is an orgainzation’s ability to ensure their data is protected no matter where it resides. When it comes to data protection, enterprises are more likely than SMBs to use separate applications to backup physical and virtual machines. But – regardless of size – most customers would still like to find a single data protection solution that can handle both physical and virtual environments. Although 62 percent of respondents have separate backup for physical and virtual machines, 91 percent of respondents “love the idea”, or are interested in learning more about the benefits a single solution can provide.
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Naturally, organizations that have larger IT budgets are better able to fund separate backup applications and systems for virtual and physical environments. But this becomes more difficult in SMBs where IT budgets and personnel resources are much more limited. Regardless of available resources however, everyone is looking for opportunities to simplify and streamline, and the critical area of data protection is no exception.
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MIGRATING TO WINDOWS 2012
Making the transition to Microsoft Windows Server 2012 can provide important benefits to businesses, especially when it comes to embracing the ongoing trends of virtualization and cloud computing. Before migration, however, it’s important to be prepared for the challenges. In order to make the best transition possible, Symantec recommends taking the following steps. • First, consider your organization’s goals as they relate to IT. In some cases this may be a need for the flexibility that comes with a completely virtualized environment. Other businesses simply need to improve their server efficiency. Clearly defining the desired result can shed light on when and how to proceed with the migration.
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• Next evaluate the current IT infrastructure, including applications and current servers. An organization that has users working in several locations, and a wide variety of servers in the data center, may want to transition the servers to a virtual environment before upgrading to Windows Server 2012. • Finally, maintaining access to information and services should be top priority as the migration takes place. Ensure that you have a comprehensive backup and recovery platform in place to prevent downtime when making the transition. The solution should be able to operate in both physical and virtual environments to reduce complexity.
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