Microsoft offers server cost-cutting advice

Against the backdrop of economic uncertainty where businesses are being forced to do even more with even less, Microsoft is claiming to be offering a helping hand.

The software giant has re-launched its "Spotlight on cost" website with a whitepaper advising on how to make operational cost savings on servers through virtualisation.

The current crop of new servers, many being released with the new Nehalem-based chips, place a huge focus on power saving and are dominating the headlines. The idea behind Microsoft's whitepaper, however, is how to make the most of what you've got, according to the company's Technet blog.

The free downloadable 21-page document titled "Server Infrastructure Optimization: Best Practices to Reduce IT Operational Costs" includes comments on server consolidation, power savings, environmental impact and space saving among other things and claims to "show that businesses can often realise immediate savings just by operating their existing data centres more efficiently."

It goes on to state: "Businesses have never been under more pressure to reduce costs and operate more efficiently. Virtualisation is one of the most effective means for making this happen. It provides powerful, tangible ways to streamline many traditionally time-consuming processes and minimise the resources needed to deploy and manage IT resources."

The whitepaper concludes that consolidation of servers and a built-in platform approach will increase savings. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it suggests Microsoft tools and its licensing programmes are the best way to achieve this.

For more whitepapers on the topic of virtualisation, please visit our Whitepaper library.

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.