It’s hard to overstate the impact that virtualization technology has had on the enterprise, and organizations can now extend the benefits of virtualization with the software-defined data center. It’s another revolutionary idea, and, as such, MSPs will have to take the time to explain the benefits and return on investment to their clients.

To start discussions like these, numbers can help put things in context. Here are five ways to look at SDDC “by the numbers.”

1. Perhaps the most important number when it comes to the software-defined data center is three—as in, the three major areas that comprise the SDDC: software-defined computing, software-defined networking and software-defined security.

2. Gartner Research VP John Morency said in an article on ZDNet that the initial value provided by the SDDC is threefold: more automation, more agility, and more flexibility.

3. The SDDC market is estimated to grow from around $26 billion in 2016 to $83 billion by 2021, at a high compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.57% during the forecast period, according to Research and Markets. In other words, SDDC is not going anywhere.

4. A use case published by VMware showed how a global bank took advantage of SDDC. After growing rapidly over the last decade, largely through acquisitions, a U.S.-based top-15 bank’s IT infrastructure had increased in complexity. The bank is now building one of the industry’s first large-scale SDDCs, and, based on the predictions of the VMware cost models, the company expects to reduce OpEx and CapEx by up to 70%.

5. Gartner predicted last year that, by 2020, the programmatic capabilities of an SDDC will be considered a requirement for 75 percent of Global 2000 enterprises that seek to implement a DevOps approach and a hybrid cloud model.

As implementation and use of SDDC technology grows over time, we will add to the numbers we have presented here. We also invite MSPs who have worked with customers to implement SDDC to share the numbers they have seen in the comments section below.

For more information on the Software-Defined Data Center please visit http://www.vmware.com/software-defined-datacenter/index.html.