The virtualization game has changed: A new playbook for IT leaders

The virtualization game has changed: A new playbook for IT leaders A market in motion The strategic shift A new game plan for a new era Want guidance on other tech challenges? Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization Engine | Product Trial About the author Andrew Brown More like this Blog post Blog post Original podcast Keep exploring Browse by channel Automation Artificial intelligence Open hybrid cloud Security Edge computing Infrastructure Applications Virtualization Share In today's business, success isn't just about playing the game–it's about having the right strategy to win. Like a top team constantly adapting its formation to a changing opponent, organisations are grappling with complex IT environments, rising costs, and the need to modernise for workloads like AI. The question is, how do we find a way forward that provides greater control and a clear path to innovation? The answer lies in how we approach virtualization. To help leaders understand how the situation has shifted, Red Hat released a report on the state of virtualization. It reveals critical insights into how forward-thinking organisations are harnessing a unified platform for virtualization and containers to become more agile and flexible. I've been discussing these very topics with our customers, partners, and peers for some time now, and the insights in this report are a perfect articulation of what I've seen firsthand: there is a widespread desire for a new playbook for the future of IT infrastructure. Our customers are asking for a platform that drives tangible change and positions them for ongoing success. What truly solidifies my understanding of the changing virtualization market is the sheer scale of the market movement revealed in the report. It's one thing to know there's a buzz about change, but it’s another to see the data: 70% of organisations have recently moved virtual machine (VM) workloads to a different or additional hypervisor—or are in the process of making a switch. This isn't just contemplation, it's a widespread reassessment of existing platforms driven by a fundamental belief that the existing strategy is no longer sufficient. Organisations are not just thinking about it, but are actively executing on a new virtualization strategy that addresses their primary pain points, including licensing costs (31%), and management complexity (31%). Vendor lock-in (28%) and concerns about the continued support of existing platforms (27%), along with confidence in long-term vision (24%), are also frequent topics.