The path of small businesses towards virtualization

Claudio Chávez, Enterprise Account Manager for Peru and Bolivia of VMware, points out that the local market is very open to the use of cloud technology. And SMEs, when implementing virtualization tools, must discern which services to virtualize.

Large corporations are not the only ones that use cloud computing. VMware, an American company that provides the infrastructure to host services in the cloud, operates in Peru since last year and almost 50% of its local customers are small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

"Cloud computing and virtualization hits us all in different ways, from the most basic user to the most sophisticated company that has a virtualized data center," says Claudio Chávez, Enterprise Account Manager for Peru and Bolivia at VMware.

Although the items that have adapted more quickly to the tools of the cloud are those that traditionally invest more in technology -finances and retail-, the SMEs that venture into virtualization solutions in the local market belong to varied items, from " hospitals and clinics to small companies providing customs services. "

BenefitsChavéz argues that the benefits of using cloud technology include optimizing the use of resources using virtual machines, reducing investment in hardware and having a faster reaction speed when needing greater processing and storage capacity.

"Virtualization is a tool that can help you not only be more effective and competitive, but also be more efficient in your business (...) The variety of companies (locally) that understand that virtualization is a way to save costs is very strong, "says the VMware executive.

Also, you can save up to 80% of energy, reduce up to 60% the cost of capex (acquisition of new hardware) and 30% of opex (operational or maintenance costs).

However, for the average of Peruvian SMEs, investment in virtualization solutions can be "expensive, but not expensive".

Chavéz explains it with an example: "A neighborhood hardware store with two or three branches can manage your inventory with block and paper, with spreadsheet, hopefully (...) But it turns out that yes there is a hardware company that has ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning ), so that their speed of product supply is much more effective, the neighborhood hardware store can not compete ".

The key for small and medium enterprises is to discern which services to take to the cloud. And the strategy of incursion to these technologies must be articulated with the business strategy: how you want to grow and evolve as a company.

"Many people say 'I have to be in the cloud because they told me', but do you really need to? And if you need to, what do you have to go to the cloud? All businesses are different and all expectations are different and there are services that they must be taken to the cloud and there are services that do not (...) The road to the cloud is a one-way road, not a round trip ", explains Chávez.

VMware - The American company, pioneer in the cloud computing market, has been in the market since 1998. It has personnel operating in Peru since last year. - He invoiced more than US $ 5,000 million in 2013. - Chávez estimates that he will grow no less than 40% in 2014, on a par with the local market.