What if deploying a new server was as easy as turning on a light? Or better yet, in the same way heating and cooling systems react to environmental changes, what if your IT infrastructure would automatically scale up and down with the dynamic needs of your customers, partners and employees? We’re not there quite yet, but this a version of the future some are predicting and none of it would be possible without virtualization. While virtualization has been around in different forms for decades, recent advancements in software, networking and related technologies have expanded the ways by which business can take advantage of virtualized IT infrastructure.

What is virtualization? One useful definition: virtualization is using software to make a single physical resource, such as a server, appear as multiple logical resources. In other words, it is using software to simulate hardware on which other software runs. In this article, we’re going to hear about major categories of virtualization, server, network, desktop, and then see how these technologies can deliver previously unavailable benefits to firms of almost any size.

Server Virtualization – The practice of employing simulated servers to reduce the physical footprint of data centers is now widely popular, especially among large enterprises. Microsoft, VMware and Citrix are leading providers of hypervisors, the software that makes it possible to run multiple instances of an operating system and associated ERP applications on a single physical server. Moreover, the arrival of cloud computing, pioneered by Amazon Web Services, allows businesses to essentially “rent” virtual servers from any number of vendors. The widespread availability of virtual servers is changing the way business consume and pay for IT capacity.

Network Virtualization – This is often referred to as Software Defined Networking (SDN) and involves decoupling the control and data planes of an IP network. Think of virtualized network devices, such as switches and routers. SDN provides system administrators with much easier management. They no longer require access to the physical devices to reconfigure the network, which in turn delivers unprecedented flexibility. Two quick examples: Networks can be reconfigured to accommodate new types of mobile devices without waiting for updates from the network hardware device manufacturers; traffic can automatically redirected to support the rapid deployment of virtual servers.

Virtual Desktops – Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is a growing trend among enterprises and allows an employee’s desktop image to be hosted on a cloud based server instead of a client device. In this way the same applications and files available at a person’s office workstation can be accessed remotely from a variety of devices. An employee wouldn’t necessarily have to bring their laptop with them while travelling or working from home. In some cases, multiple employees might access their personal desktop configurations, at different times of the day, from the same physical device. By breaking the model of one computer per employee found at many firms, VDI is changing the way business meet the IT needs of their workforce.

By now, you’ve probably heard of how virtualization can cut IT costs. And while many firms have obtained substantial cost savings by implementing any number of combinations of virtual components, if virtualization were just about saving money the buzz would have died down a long time ago.

Another commonly cited benefit of virtualization is flexibility. This isn’t just about operating your current business cheaper or faster, it’s about changing the way you operate your business. Virtualization and the related applications of what is commonly called cloud computing deliver newfound business agility. Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Capacity on Demand – The speed and relative ease with which virtual servers can be deployed, either in house or by a hosting provider, gives businesses access to IT ‘capacity on demand.’ In recent years, Redmond, WA based Concur Technologies started implementing a private cloud, in part to keep its infrastructure on pace to support its rapid growth. Craig Baughn, the then VP of Concur Hosting solutions raved at how capacity could be added in “days, not weeks.”

Such rapidly scalable infrastructure is invaluable if you are at a fast growing internet company but it also has application in more routine use cases. Application development is another area where robust environments are required during periods of intense testing. Now, new environments, with a multitude of configurations, can be easily added to reduce potential bottlenecks on the path to production. When testing is complete, these environments can be just as easily shut down until they are needed again. The end result is both improved testing and faster time to market for new applications.

Disaster Recovery, or DR, is an area where firms often resist investing because of the likelihood that the capability will never be used. Virtual servers, ones can be launched only when needed, eliminate much of the downside financial risk to robust DR solutions. Rachael Dines, an analyst with Forrester, also touts the higher reliability of DR systems relying on virtual machines due to their more automated recovery process.

Pay As You Go Pricing – Public and hybrid cloud providers routinely offer pricing terms which allow a business to pay for only the compute capacity it actually consumes. Such “pay as you go” pricing makes capacity on demand use cases even more attractive. If a business knows that that they will not incur large upfront expenses, or be tied into legacy costs, they are more likely to add capacity to test new ideas or tinker with existing applications. The relatively low overhead associated with this kind experimentation can boost innovation and in turn benefit their customers.

This inherent change of fixed expenses into variable expenses can also change a company’s IT budgeting process. In many firms, IT budgets are set months in advance. Large, “spiky” capital expenses must be accommodated within the other cash flow needs of the firm. In the new model, these expenses are spread out over time. Moreover, in some cases these expenses can be more closely tied to revenues, greatly reducing the need for borrowed money, or other types of financing. In some cases, start-ups have delayed taking on additional investors because there is no longer a pressing need to spend heavily on IT capacity which will sit idle until customer growth arrives.

Consumerization of IT – As consumers become more connected in their personal lives, it is natural that this “always online” attitude will spill over into their professional lives. More and more, employees expect to use their personal smarthphones, tablets and other computing devices as part of their daily work. On the surface, this seems like an insurmountable task. After all, IT departments have for years valued standardization to reduce costs and improve reliability. However, adapting to a new variety of mobile devices becomes much more manageable when taking advantage of the benefits provided by virtualization. SDN allows new devices, some with previously unsupported operating systems, to be more easily incorporated into an enterprise’s IT environment. Virtual desktops can be accessed without regard to time or place; so much for the excuse of not bringing your laptop home from work. Virtual infrastructure and cloud computing allow a business to better meet the needs of their evolving and increasingly mobile workforce. This can lead to more engaged, satisfied employees who deliver higher productivity.

As you can see, virtualization and cloud computing can deliver a multitude of business benefits. It’s not just about saving money. The increasingly “virtual” nature of IT will continue to impact both short term and long term decisions made by business leaders. Many industry experts, including Andy Jassy, SVP of Amazon Web Services, believe this will lead to more and more outsourcing of IT capacity. Businesspeople will no longer be forced to worry about the nuts and bolts of deploying IT infrastructure. They can instead focus their resources on improving their core business and developing new products. To support this innovation a portfolio of providers will offer the necessary IT capacity anytime and anywhere – ready at the click of a mouse.

Gregory John is cloud evangelist and veteran technologist who, having recently returned to Seattle, is currently looking for his next B2B marketing opportunity. Find him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter @saascloudguy