Norwich Union decided to use a niche supplier to handle the transition to a virtualised server environment ­ a move that was “not without its risks”, according to analysts.

The firm consolidated 2,500 ageing servers to fewer than 200 physical boxes running 1,000 virtual machines, a project it rolled out in six weeks.

The insurance giant said budget was not the primary concern during the project, and it was more concerned with keeping the systems running.

Steve Houghton, infrastructure solution architect at Norwich Union IT Solutions, said the firm encountered issues with software drivers and old networking infrastructure that slowed down the deployment.

“Keeping software up-to-date across the server infrastructure had become a complex and time-consuming task,’ he said. Houghton opted to run a nightly conversion timetable of eight physical-to-virtual servers often running workflow and quotation applications which had to be fully functional by the start of business on the following day.

The firm used vendor PlateSpin to supply the physical-to-virtual conversion management tool, which saved 2,200 hours of configuration time. Houghton cited its “roll back and forward” capabilities which enabled migration “on the move” as key to the choice.

Phil Dawson, agenda manager for virtualisation at analyst Gartner, said the decision to opt for a niche player was not without its risks.

“Going with a smaller vendor rather than a main player is a purely tactical opportunity ­ you have to get a quick payback on return on investment,” he said.
“PlateSpin has a great technology but its market penetration is pretty weak. In reality, it might have some tactical advantages at technology level over the main player. That said, it is a safer bet for companies to stick to mainstream and commercially available offerings than niche tools.

“A good example here is the Xen community [developed originally
as an open source server virtualisation hypervisor but now owned by Citrix] and its manufacturers. It now has really fragmented toolsets ­ which prompts a number of questions related to compatibility in implementation processes.”

Dawson added that it would not be a surprise if major players such as Microsoft or VMware acquired niche virtualisation suppliers.