2010 Government Virtualization Report:
Agencies Report Reduced Costs, Improved Continuity of Operations and Security Benefits

To view an in-depth analysis of the CDW-G 2010 Government Virtualization Report, please complete the information form at the link below.

Agencies Are Implementing and Benefiting From Virtualization

77% are implementing at least one form of virtualization

89% are benefiting from virtualization

Federal Security Concerns Decline

• Federal IT professionals view security as less of a barrier to virtualization than one year ago; almost half consider it a benefit

Which of the following are the most significant barriers to virtualization in your agency?*

Federal IT pros:
Year	Rank	Security is a barrier
2009	#2	35%
2010	#7	24%
State/Local IT pros:**
2010	#8	13%

*Respondents asked to select their top three barriers to virtualization. **2009 data not collected for State/Local IT professionals.

Savvy CIOs Are a Key Indicator of Success

• Respondents who gave their CIOs an "A" virtualization proficiency grade reported their deployment to be more successful and their IT department more appropriately staffed and trained than those who graded CIOs with a "B" or lower

How to read this chart: Fifty-four percent of organizations whose CIOs received an "A" virtualization proficiency grade are employing a "Virtualization First" strategy*

	Policy: Agency employs a "Virtualization First" strategy	Capabilities: IT department is appropriately staffed and trained	Results: IT pros consider their deployment to be successful
CIO received an "A" for virtualization proficiency	54%	87%	82%
CIO received a "B" for virtualization proficiency	48%	73%	57%
CIO received a "C" for virtualization proficiency	20%	39%	25%
CIO received a "D" for virtualization proficiency	6%	10%	12%
CIO received an "F" for virtualization proficiency	14%	14%	33%

*"Virtualization First" means that a requestor must prove that a new software application does not work in a virtualized environment before the agency will buy a dedicated server to support it.

Staffing and Budget Challenges Impede Progress

• Although 89% of IT managers say their implementation is successful or somewhat successful, 46% say that their IT department is not appropriately staffed and trained to manage a virtualized environment

Top Federal Barriers:		Top State and Local Barriers:
#1 Lack of staff knowledge to manage technology #1 Limited budget for necessary hardware investments #2 Limited budget for necessary hardware investments #2 Limited budget for necessary software investments #3 Lack of staff and resources to make and implement a specific plan for our facilities #3 Lack of staff and resources to make and implement a specific plan for our facilities

Recommendations

• Lead: Secure non-IT leadership support and ensure adequate end-user education
• Analyze: Conduct cost-benefit and performance analyses and set benchmarks for evaluating ROI
• Plan: Audit current IT environments to determine areas that can immediately benefit from virtualization and areas that will require additional planning
• Implement: Begin with a small-scale implementation. Apply lessons learned to a subsequent deployment

CDW-G hired O'Keeffe & Company to conduct an online survey of more than 600 government IT managers in May 2010. 100% of respondents are familiar with the term virtualization.

Sample Size and Margin of Error:

• 610 Full Sample: ± 3.9% margin of error at a 95% confidence level
• 309 Federal IT Managers: ± 5.5% margin of error at a 95% confidence level
• 301 State/Local IT Managers: ± 5.6% margin of error at a 95% confidence level

Kelly Caraher
CDW-G Public Relations
847-968-0729
kellyc@cdw.com