Under the Microscope: Virtualization' Will Reduce IT Costs

CUPERTINO, Calif. - According to information technology giants Symantec and Intel, "virtualization" technology will play a large role in the financial services sector this year.

Virtualization empowers a single IT administrator to manage tens of thousands of PCs, the companies said. Therefore, the administrator can isolate security controls away from the end user, automate security updates across the organization, and reduce operating costs by almost half.

Symantec and Intel said their research found 82% of respondents worry about employees disabling security safeguards, considering the risk and liabilities this can bring. The companies found a growing interest (79% of respondents) in using virtualization as an IT management tool.

As the surge in bank mergers continues, financial institutions often find themselves in charge of disparate, inherited fleets of computing systems, the companies noted. Merger and acquisition success is dependent on a small, six-month window for integrating IT infrastructure. This window though is becoming narrower and narrower in 2007, the companies said.

Not only are mergers in the financial sector expected to rise, recent surveys found CFOs are under considerable restraints on their time. Symantec and Intel said it is clear IT, which once was viewed merely as an organization's technical troubleshooter, is and will continue to play a major role in successful business operations.