How To Build A Virtualization Practice

ARE YOU QUALIFIED?
After deciding virtualization is for you, it is necessary to sign with a vendor and get qualified, Spears says. It is also important to get implementation experience, or at least find the right partner to do the implementation, he adds. Virtual Technologies is partnering with a third-party company with experience with VMware, XenSource and Virtual Iron. "This gives us the services ability and the credibility," Spears says.

In addition to getting certified and trained in virtualization software, it is important to collect as much information as possible, Spears notes. That includes reading white papers and competitive analyses, as well as working with research firms such as Forrester, Lehman Brothers and the Burton Group.

In the short time since Optimus Solutions started with server virtualization, it has had nine of its employees certified on the technical side and 20 on the sales side for VMware, says Kevin Houston, business development manager and virtualization practice manager at Optimus, Norcross, Ga. "You have to embrace the technology," he says.

THE RIGHT TOOLS
Once a solution provider gets its sales and technical people certified, it needs to look at the tools that can help evaluate a customer's server environment, Houston says. Optimus uses IBM's Consolidation Discovery and Analysis Tool (CDAT), VMware's Capacity Planner and PlateSpin's PowerRecon. Each tool has its specific uses--if the customer runs an all-IBM shop, Optimus will use IBM's CDAT, but for open environments the choice is more likely to be VMware's, he notes.

While not absolutely necessary, having a strong hardware foundation with a vendor like IBM or Hewlett-Packard is also helpful, Houston says. That will help in determining the right hardware to use for the virtualization.

"Not everything needs to be done on blade servers, or on four-way servers," he says. "It comes down to what customers are trying to accomplish. If they want to cut their footprint, blades may be better. But if they are looking for the most bang for the buck, four-way servers are better."

Virtual Technologies has also established relationships with power utilities that offer rebates to customers who cut down on the number of servers they own, Spears says. These might include, for instance, Pacific Gas & Electric in California, Xcel Energy in Minneapolis and PacifiCorp in Oregon.

Quantum Data Systems currently partners with another solution provider to do the installation and training of server virtualization while focusing its own resources on sales. Eventually, it may get into deployment, Bridgman says. "If we have many clients looking at working with VMware, we may invest in the VMware Certified Professional certification," he says. "But if it's only one or two clients, it's more beneficial to use the third party."

Next: Which Vendor?