Virtualisation is an important and growing trend, and many businesses worldwide are now incorporating virtual solutions within their IT infrastructures. You can create a more agile infrastructure, reduce the total cost of IT ownership and minimise downtime with the use of virtualization.

 
Specific benefits include:

• Server consolidation (for example you can run several operating systems on one physical server, so you get the maximum use from your hardware)
• Easier software back-up and disaster recovery
• Hosting legacy applications, for example ones that need to run on older operating systems
• Reduced test and development costs - you get the most from your hardware, plus improved life cycle management and test coverage
• Better business continuity - the flexibility of a virtual set-up helps reduce scheduled and unscheduled downtime
• Being greener: fewer physical servers means a smaller carbon footprint

Virtualization also maximizes utilization and maximizing utilization of servers and consolidation of servers seems to go hand-in-hand. You cannot do one without the other. When servers are consolidated, so is utilization.