Virtual Server as used by Microsoft IT...and webcast
Excellent docuemnt from Microsoft IT on their use of Virtual Server and details of a webcast on the subject later this month.
At Microsoft, pursuit of improvements in operational efficiencies led to the consolidation of a number of physical datacenters. The creation of a utility model concentrated many administrative and management tasks in the hands of teams of dedicated computing professionals. The success of these initiatives fostered the search for additional methods and tools to further improve efficiencies and lower costs.
Virtual Server 2005 provided Microsoft with the means to take consolidation to the logical level. The Virtual Server Utility team assumed responsibility for deployment. Internal customers were recruited for the pilot, with aggressive SLA metrics as compelling incentives.
Benefits
Reduction in server provisioning intervals from 22-25 days to 1 day
Cost reductions of ~30% over 3 years
Improved customer satisfaction
Download the full IT Showcase study! Share the link with partners and customers looking to dramatically improve their operational efficiencies through server consolidation using Virtual Server 2005:
We will also be hosting a webcast that customers and partners might find helpful which explains what MSIT is doing.
Microsoft information technology's (IT) Virtual Server Utility offers Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 to internal Microsoft customers as a centralized managed service. This service is backed by a Service Level Agreement (SLA) competitive with agreements associated with the ownership and management of a physical server. Microsoft had a very positive experience with Virtual Server 2005, which met or exceeded expectations across the entire SLA, metric by metric. It even exceeded expected cost-savings. Join this webcast to learn about Microsoft's pilot implementation experiences with Virtual Server 2005. We will show how this program met the challenging IT requirements at Microsoft, the methods Microsoft IT employed and the lessons Microsoft IT learned from the experience.
Presenter: Chad Lewis, Microsoft IT Lead Program Manager, IT Utility Services, Microsoft Corporation