Recent Cloud and Virtualization Survey From SolarWinds Indicates the Rise of the Competitive IT Department

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

Virtualization as the technology foundation of cloud computing has ushered in new challenges, new day-to-day responsibilities and, now, new roles for IT professionals as business leaders within their organizations. A recent survey by SolarWinds(R) Inc. /quotes/zigman/505205/quotes/nls/swi SWI +0.50% , a leading provider of powerful and affordable IT management software, indicates that IT departments plan to invest in key areas of business in order to play a more competitive role.

"IT’s role of creating and maintaining infrastructure is transforming to act as more of an intermediary or broker in addition to those traditional roles," said Jonathan Reeve, SolarWinds’ senior director of product management. "IT professionals will need to demonstrate their expertise by identifying and implementing the most appropriate virtualization and cloud tools that fit their company’s needs. Investing in areas such as competitive analysis, marketing and product management will help them on their way to becoming successful business leaders."…

Survey Findings: SolarWinds recently conducted a survey in December 2011 and received responses from nearly 65 IT professionals. As part of the survey, SolarWinds asked each IT professional a series of questions related to their predictions and organizations’ plans regarding cloud and virtualization. Survey findings include:

        —  Nearly 65 percent of respondents plan to invest in competitive
            analysis vs. external services.
        —  More than 60 percent plan to invest in marketing IT services back to
            the business.
        —  Nearly 60 percent plan to invest in product management for those IT
            services.
       
"IT departments looking to stay competitive should ask themselves what direction their company is heading, identify the goals and determine IT’s strategic role," continued Reeve. "The good news is that IT departments already have the upper-hand in understanding the unique requirements of the businesses they support."

Three Tips for IT Pros Developing a Competitive, Business Skill Set:

1. Embrace the evolution of virtualization. First and foremost, IT professionals need to be up-to-speed on the evolution of technology and know how to manage a virtual infrastructure, including its performance, availability, capacity and applications. A core understanding of virtualization and cloud technologies has become table stakes for IT leaders.

2. Develop partnerships. IT professionals will need to identify and collaborate with vendors that are making it easier to adopt features that enhance virtualization and facilitate the transition to cloud computing. Start experimenting early and often. This will simplify the process for IT professionals whose companies are looking to move into a cloud infrastructure. Another advantage is that this will demonstrate their ability to develop and manage vital partnerships that provide the right enhancement features for their companies’ needs.

3. Become a successful business leader. This is the defining piece. IT professionals need to become prominent leaders and advise their companies on the right infrastructure needs to drive the business forward. Skills such as marketing and product management are not only for vendors, they are becoming increasingly important for IT departments whose delivery of IT services is inevitably going to be compared to outside service providers.

For the complete survey results and explanation, please read 2012 Cloud and Virtualization Predictions: The Emergence of the Competitive IT Department.