Evaluate a Considered Case for Microsoft Virtualization With Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V Microsoft has caught up to industry leading VMware across many server virtualization features and functions. That, plus a perception of lower costs (Hyper-V is free) is leading many to consider a move to Hyper-V for virtualization and hybrid cloud. Now is the time to evaluate the potential of Hyper-V. It may or may not be right for your requirements, but you will need to have a clear and considered case for or against Hyper-V. As virtualization has become mainstream this is not the time for either blissful ignorance or knee jerk decisions.

1. Value
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Build a Case for Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V
Hyper-V is a credible alternative and competitive threat to VMware for server virtualization and hybrid cloud computing. Be prepared to make the case to properly evaluate this option.
You need to take action!
Virtualization has become mainstream and has yielded benefits for capital savings and operational agility. But there are costs for virtualization in licensing the leading solution (VMware). You need to know if there are viable alternatives and the specific value of staying or switching.
On average, about 70% of x86 workloads were expected to be virtualized by the end of 2013.
Source: Info-Tech Research Group.
If you don’t take the initiative here, others might. Info-Tech has encountered organizations where migration to supposedly cheaper Hyper-V has been mandated by senior management.
Not evaluating alternatives is a failure of due diligence. You need to continually justify your choices against competing alternatives.
Conversely, you need to mitigate knee-jerk decisions that could prove costly – such as a “sticker shock” reaction to VMware pricing, leading to an edict to switch to “cheaper” Microsoft.
Between 2011 and 2012, VMware and Microsoft emerged as the sole choices among those using only one virtualization vendor. The others are now more likely to appear in secondary and special purpose roles where more than one product is used.
As the second place hypervisor, Hyper-V has been growing relative to VMware. Third-party vendors in the virtualization space are focusing on VMware and Microsoft as the two likely platforms for their products to be compatible with.
Example: Leading virtual backup provider ensures parity in VMware and Hyper-V versions to capitalize on Hyper-V growth
Source: Veeam
(small type) Note the graphs above are from a “prospect survey” of more than 500 respondents that downloaded information from Veeam’s website. So while they offer a window on the potential market for Veeam products, they are not necessarily a representative sample of all
organizations doing virtualization.
To achieve these results.
Identify niche opportunities for cost savings. Enterprises with a substantial investment in VMware may continue to use VMware for core mission critical “big iron” application infrastructure but will look for point opportunities for Hyper-V to save on virtualization costs.
Justify a Microsoft-centric virtualization and hybrid cloud platform if it’s right for you. Microsoft shops (SMBs for sure but also larger enterprises) can standardize on Hyper-V for local server consolidation and virtualization but also for a common platform for internal/external hybrid cloud
computing.
Strengthen your bargaining position with VMware. VMware may be the favored vendor, but in negotiating contracts with any vendor there is little leverage if you can’t put a real alternative on the table. Increasingly that real and serious alternative is Hyper-V. A thorough evaluation, pilot
test, and migration plan makes the Hyper-V alternative more than a bluff.
Boxed Factoid: A Washington-based system integrator finds that smaller organizations using Hyper-V instead of VMware saved $30,000 to $50,000 in total costs.
Now is the time to at least evaluate the potential of Hyper-V as the foundation for virtualization in your organization. VMware continues to hold a dominant first place in server virtualization, but Microsoft is a growing second place contender and the main alternative to VMware.
Info-Tech Server Virtualization Vendor Landscape 2014.
Microsoft Hyper-V has improved enormously since its introduction and has largely caught up with VMware across most feature and function categories. But is it right for you? Info-Tech’s top three overall insights:
This is not a horse race. VMware is the undisputed market leader in server virtualization. But to “win,” Microsoft only needs to be in the race as a viable and legitimate alternative.
Focus on the “I” in ROI. Establish what benefits you are expecting to get out of virtualization, now and in the future, and look to reduce the investment (cost) for a comparable return.
On paper is not good enough. The features and benefits of Microsoft virtualization look comparable to VMware but these need to be proven. Identify opportunity and test, test, test.
See Project Steps Table Below
For a dominant visual theme I’d like a medieval siege motif where a castle is on the right side of the infographic with VMware manning the battlements. Hyper-V is the besieging army storming the castle. (see mock-up image below).
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Rough Sketch
This infographic is the creative art of our research. As such, we want to make sure each one is unique and creative. The only real guideline is our fixed width and call to action image. The rest is up to you.
1) Storyboard: Build a Case for Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V (159 PowerPoint Slides)
2) System Center Server Virtualization TCO Calculator (Excel tool)
3) Server Virtualization Roadmap Development Tool (Excel tool)
4) A Case for Evaluating Microsoft Hyper-V (Template)
1) Identify drivers and set value measures
2) Define requirements and usage scenarios
3) Analyze and compare total costs
4) Roadmap opportunities for testing and deployment

2. Define requirements and usage scenario for how Microsoft virtualization is and will be deployed in your environment.
Four possible deployment scenarios:
Multi-Hypervisor Tiered Approach
Continue to use VMware for mission critical production servers but develop a second tier of Microsoft servers virtualized with
Hyper-V and possibly Windows Azure.
Typical Case: Large enterprises with significant investment in VMware and non-Windows applications will favor this approach.
Protects investment core applications but creates a flexible lower cost space for secondary production servers.
Standardize on Windows Server 2012
Make Hyper-V the standard virtualization layer for all servers including all production servers. Explore potential for hybrid
cloud to leverage Azure for cost savings and agility.
Typical Case: Small to mid-size enterprises which are “Microsoft Shops” are the ideal case. However, larger organizations that
are Microsoft-centric can also benefit from this approach, especially if Azure is in their future plans.
Cost Savings Opportunity: VDI
Continue to use VMware for virtual infrastructure for core applications but leverage Hyper-V for end-user computer
virtualization (virtual desktops and virtual application host servers).
Typical Case: Enterprises looking to drive down the per-seat costs of VDI are taking a critical look at hypervisor costs. This is
ideal for Microsoft and Citrix solutions but is a no-go for VMware Horizon that requires ESX.
Microsoft Application “Appliances”
System integrators and VARs create packaged appliances for Microsoft applications. These could be in combination with
physical hardware (servers and storage cluster) but could also be deployed directly to the cloud.
Typical Case: Enterprises looking to refresh hardware for specific applications (like Exchange or SharePoint). This case is similar
to the first in that it will lead to a multi-hypervisor data center.