Managed Virtualization Services Gain Momentum

From VMworld to the ConnectWise Partner Summit, managed service providers attending conferences this week are talking up managed virtualization services.

True believers include ConnectWise CEO Arnie Bellini, GlassHouse Technologies and several managed service providers that have completed the new MSPmentor 100 survey.

Here’s a bit more on the managed virtualization trend.

During his keynote at ConnectWise Partner Summit, Bellini estimated that half of the 700 MSPs in attendence were now familiar with managed virtualization services.

Meanwhile, roughly 10 percent of the MSPs that have filled out our annual MSPmentor 100 survey — the 2008-2009 edition launched this week —  say they already offer managed virtualization services. The survey is ongoing, and wraps up in December 2008.

Elsewhere, a recent survey by Nimsoft found that MSPs offering managed virtualization services have grown their new revenue by 34 percent over the past 18 months.

Generally speaking, the virtualization effort allows MSPs to consolidate their customers’ servers, improve server utilization rates, decrease power consumption and ease overall systems management.

Getting In the Game

With those benefits in mind, GlassHouse Technologies this week at VMworld launched “a suite of Managed Services for Virtual Environments.”

According to a press release from GlassHouse:

“The new services are delivered via an advanced Management Interface that leverages virtualization management software from Tek-Tools Software. This combination results in unparalleled visibility, monitoring and reporting of customers’ virtualized IT environments”

The complete Managed Services for Virtual Environments offering will be available in late 2008, according to GlassHouse.