Just like with any large-scale change to your business, the benefits of virtualization can come more slower or more quickly depending on how effectively you roll it out. The success of your virtual networking mostly depends on planning ahead properly, and using the most efficient methods possible to ensure a smooth changeover. This is the key to realizing your virtualization benefits as quickly as possible.
Through our experience in assisting companies with virtualization, we’ve identified four key success factors for achieving virtualization benefits quickly.
Four Key Success Factors For Achieving Virtualization Benefits
1) Create A Core Team
The most successful virtualization rollouts have been conducted through a core team of experts who have been in charge of the change from the beginning. This team should both plan and implement the virtual networks, as well as working as internal ambassadors to explain the process to workforce. This gives them the training and confidence needed to continue the project past the initial rollout.
2) Start With A Proper Assessment
You can’t begin with virtualization without a thorough assessment of your current network assets and their utilization. Your core team should start here, and then use the data gathered to plan the deployment. You should have them focus on addressing the areas of highest need first, running simulations beforehand to ensure a smooth changeover.
3)Treat Virtualization As An Architectural Decision
With virtualization, you are making a change to many of the core systems and processes which impact your business. This is something that needs to be integrated horizontally throughout the organization. You should a “big picture” approach to the project, and understand how it will affect the company at large. Look for opportunities to solve multiple problems at once through virtualization.
4) Refine The Virtualization Process
Once rollout has begun, constant monitoring and evaluation is critical. Your team should have plenty of opportunities to reflect on the experience so far, evaluate the current system, and refine their processes to improve the process. Transferring them to a central command center will help with this. Once there, they can also begin training other agents to begin coordinating technical support from a central location.
In short, you will speed up your virtualization benefits by focusing on planning and having a strong core team in place overseeing its implementation. If you prioritize good strategies, a new virtual network can be deployed more quickly and easily than a physical one.