Server consolidation is not a solution for everybody

Server Watch published a nice article about needs of server consolidation:

Listen closely to the vendor community,and it sounds like everybody is ditching their small servers and either consolidating onto a few larger machines or buying a bank of blades that can be more tightly controlled.

We wondered how rampant this consolidation really is. Turns out, here, too, it depends on whom you ask.

“Server consolidation does not appear to be that rampant,” says Chip Nickolett, president of Comprehensive Solutions, a systems integrator and consulting firm with experience in server consolidation based in Brookfield, Wisc. “It is mainly performed by larger companies with a complex and robust infrastructure that have been looking at this as a way to reduce cost and provide more flexibility and ease of management.”

There are times, however, when it may be prudent not to engage in server consolidation. IDC analyst Kelly Quinn points out that it takes careful preparation to conduct such a project, and that a vital part of that step is defining what – if any – value will actually be derived from it.

“Don’t engage in a server consolidation project until you’ve proven you can derive benefits from it and have thoroughly prepared both your personnel and resources for the process,” says Quinn. “It’s like the old adage goes, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”…

Read the whole article at source.