Communicating Virtualization to Non-IT Audiences

One technology in particular stands out for its
OVERVIEW ability to greatly ameliorate these pressures on
IT leaders and their staff. Virtualization, a
Virtualization brings numerous benefits methodology for making IT systems less
including cost savings, reduced carbon physically bulky, easier to protect and service,
footprint and potentially reduced IT as well as less expensive to operate, has won
many converts. Initially, the category was
workload. Implementing it successfully practically owned by the company VMWare.
requires adaptation that some employees However, the premise of virtualization has
may find challenging. This paper explores become so popular that industry behemoths
such as Microsoft and Citrix have leapt into
those challenges and explains how to the fray to offer virtualization products.
cultivate broad-based support for your Gartner predicts that by 2014, 60% of server
virtualization project. workloads will be virtualized, compared to 12%
in 2008. [Source: Cloud Computing
Topics/Cloud Spectator]

As information technology (IT) has ballooned
in importance to organizations over the years,
so have the risks, responsibilities, and
vulnerabilities accompanying it.

Malware, penetration attempts by hackers, and
the actions of rogue or disgruntled employees
all pose significant potential threats to an
organization’s mission critical data systems.

IT’s increasing business importance has also
meant an ever-expanding physical footprint –
data centers filled with servers and other
hardware represent sizable portions of
organizational energy budgets; that energy
use can have a direct impact, in turn, on
enterprise-wide greenhouse gas emissions.
Last but not least, IT expansion has had direct
implications for labor costs. Increasingly
complex systems require highly trained For IT departments, it’s usually a no-brainer to
employees to operate and maintain them. The implement some level of virtualization into
24/7 reliability requirements of IT systems their shop. It’s often an easy case to make
mean a disproportionate amount of overtime with the accounting department as well, once
and holiday pay for those charged with proponents point out the recurring cost
keeping mission-critical IT running smoothly. savings made possible by virtualizing IT
systems.

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What isn’t always so easy a sell is getting from a user; and delivering specific
buy-in on a virtualization project from rank- information to the user, through a feedback
and-file employees. While virtualization device such as a monitor, when requested.
provides clear net benefits to organizations Whether the repository is a hard drive on a
and the people who serve them, it is not local PC or a “cloud” server on another
always readily apparent to end users what continent, the basic principle remains the
those benefits are. Instead, they may only see same.
that they are required to change some of their
processes and modes of thinking when it In that sense, virtualization is not exactly a
comes to using IT in the enterprise. With recent phenomenon. In the days of room-
change comes discomfort. Workplace filling mainframes, the scientific elite used a
discomfort, if not addressed with skillful and type of virtualization to provide processing
empathetic communication, can quickly lead to power to remotely located users.
mistrust, damaged morale, and eventually
With that qualification noted, today’s
negatively impacted business results.
virtualization of servers, storage, and actual
This white paper lays out a framework, at both users’ machines/profiles, is barely recognizable
strategic and tactical levels, for gaining user in comparison to the primitive technology of
support and buy-in for virtualization several decades ago. Modern virtualization has
throughout the enterprise. come about to answer a host of mostly
contemporary problems:
When an organization’s entire staff
understands why a technological change is  Virtualization can consolidate application
being made, the chances of that change’s servers; this increases the utilization rate of the
successful implementation increase remaining servers and eliminates much of the
operating cost of maintaining the fleet of old
dramatically. This, in turn, reduces the risk of
servers; thus, it’s more energy efficient and
technological change and concomitantly raises
more cost efficient overall
the probability of delivering improved business
outcomes.  Modern virtualization can be used to eliminate
the need for hard drives at employee
workstations; hard drives represent significant
“holes in the fence” for security purposes.
Unauthorized devices and downloads can use a
The Allure of Virtualization local hard drive as an entry point to corrupt one
In IT, longtime veterans with 20, 30, or even system or to propagate through a network.
more years of experience like to take an
attitude of “there’s nothing new under the  Today’s virtualization automates much of the
sun” when it comes to the basic methods of drudgework that robs IT staff of time to
serving and storing data. perform higher-level work such as optimizing
performance; instead of personnel being tied
To some extent, they’re correct. At its heart, all up with desktop-to-desktop installs every time
of IT is some variation on a theme of storing an application is updated, one person can
information in a repository that is separated “push” the update to selected users with a few


simple instructions to the virtualization The Challenges of Change
software Most organizations that rely heavily on IT to
 IT represents a major component of any conduct business probably use some degree
organization’s energy costs. Virtualization cuts of virtualization already (and may not even be
those costs. It’s almost impossible to run any aware of it). Any end user, for instance, who
business of consequence without computer accesses a drive on the company network, as
workstations, smart phones or other wireless opposed to his or her local hard drive, is
devices, and a back-end to organize and accessing information “virtually.” For the
support the flow of information assets; purposes of this paper, we will stick with a
virtualization reduces the need for physical standard definition: in computing, virtualization
machines, thereby lowering the amount of is the creation of an abstract (versus physical)
space that must be purchased or leased, as well resource such as a hardware platform,
as costs for air conditioning of “server farms.” operating system, storage device, network
device, or application.
These represent a few of the high-level
In recent years, the degree to which
advantages of virtualization that make it such
computing systems have been virtualized has
a popular technology for organizations to
seen remarkable acceleration. Virtualization
implement.
has gotten ever-closer and visible to the end-
What often gets lost (initially) in the fervor to user – from servers and operating systems, to
virtualize is the fact the devil most certainly work-related applications, to users’ own
lies in the details when it comes down to the workstations. This notion of “network
stage of actual implementation. computing,” in which the processing capability,
data, and major hardware reside in a location
remote from the user, has been around for
quite awhile.

What’s changed is the level of implementation
(and complexity) of this virtual computing
environment within organizations of all sizes
and types of industry. According to research
commissioned by Veeam Software, more than
a third (39%) of servers worldwide were virtual
ones by late 2011.

The advantages of going virtual, as mentioned
earlier, are numerous. The challenges of
implementation need not be numerous, if care
is taken in selecting a vendor and integration
partners.
Source: Gartner
One particular challenge, however, will fall
squarely on the virtualization purchaser to sort


out. This challenge is helping non-IT among the workforce and undermine IT’s best
personnel transition from a non-virtualized efforts to provide a smooth transition.
to a virtualized environment. As with any
large-scale organizational transition, a move to Timely and open communication is key to
virtualized systems requires a thoughtful, creating an atmosphere of trust and
detailed, and well-documented change cooperation. In this regard, IT will wish to
management effort to accomplish successfully. partner closely with the organization’s internal
communications (or perhaps human resources)
And just how does one define “success?” Of team. IT departments are famous for
course, different organizations will use presenting information in ways that are
different success metrics. But considering IT as difficult for non-technical individuals to
a strategic business unit aligned with the understand. Using the services of a
larger organization’s strategic objectives, it professional communicator will assist greatly in
makes sense to take a holistic view when ensuring the rest of staff comprehend key
defining success. A few outcomes worthy of messages and feel at least a semblance of
pursuit: ownership.

Case study after case study has proven
 Ensuring all users, i.e., non-IT personnel in beyond a doubt – an audience is much more
particular, understand the reasons for and
advantages of virtualization likely to embrace a change to which members
have personally made a contribution. Thus,
 Ensuring all users receive adequate communication between IT and users must be
communication and know whom to contact
concerning virtualization-related issues two-way (or with the use of internal social
media tools, even multi-directional). This paper
 Making users feel like participants and
contributors to the change process, rather than will offer specific tactics later, but for now, do
helpless bystanders understand that a more open approach will
likely yield more desirable end-results than a
closed, command-and-control style approach.
By not setting these or similar objectives at
the outset of a virtualization project,
organizations needlessly burden themselves The Basics of Buy-In Achievement
with increased risk. Virtualization shares many
This section will take a step-by-step, end-to-
user-implementation risks with other forms of
end look at how to ensure employee buy-in at
IT change, plus it presents a few unique
the various stages of your enterprise
(potential) hazards of its own.
virtualization project. This collection of steps is
Detractors will point out the drawbacks of the not intended as a one-size-fits all product, but
new technology and how it will make their rather a highly customizable and high-level
current jobs harder (no hard drive/small hard template. The particular culture and
drive limits scope of work they can do; can’t circumstances of your organization will
perform company work without a network ultimately determine the degree, duration, and
connection). If allowed to propagate details of your virtualization project’s change
unrebutted, such talk can become contagious


management component. collaboration sessions with the project
sponsor, along with high-level project team
members, to define the problem (or problems)
Planning you wish for virtualization to solve.
Ultimate responsibility for a successful Much like the “establish scope” step in
implementation rests with the top project traditional project management. It’s not
manager. Reporting to him or her would enough simply to want virtualization (or other
ideally be an adequate complement of sub- trending technologies) because it’s popular. At
managers to help develop sub-plans that the enterprise level, tools such as virtualization,
leveraged their expertise. Whether the guiding managed IT services, and others, are most
principles are those of the Project wisely chosen because of their ability to
Management Institute, Prince2, or some other meet/address/satisfy a specific business need.
flavor of keeping initiatives on-time and on- In other words, they solve a clearly defined
budget is almost irrelevant. What matters is and strategically critical problem.
that everyone involved understands the
“ground rules” of the project in order to You may have multiple reasons for wanting to
present as cohesive and coherent a message virtualize most of your IT systems. And they
to end users as possible. can all be valid. But ultimately, you can boil
them all down to one core requirement, which
For the purposes of this paper, special we’ll refer to as the problem statement.
emphasis will be paid to two of the “softer,”
By crafting such a problem statement early
i.e., less technical elements of the
and referring to it throughout the project, it
implementation – communications and
will lend your team’s work a singular focus.
training. Make no mistake about their
“Rabbit hole” pursuits that divert resources
importance, however. In organizations where
away from solving the problem statement can
most of the employees are non-technologists,
quickly be recognized and terminated. Scope
these two areas can make or break an
creep, an insidious drag on any project’s
otherwise technically well-executed IT project.
scheduled completion, can be kept handily in
Therefore, it is critical that these user-focused check when new developments are held up to
elements receive equally careful planning and scrutiny for their relevance to the problem
scheduling as would more technical project statement.
events such as sandbox and pilot testing,
A problem statement could be likened to a
installation, and configuring.
mission statement, but it is much more
focused on practical challenges and specific
First, define the problem desired outcomes. Here is an example:

Effective solutions begin with intelligent Proliferation of uniquely configured desktop
questions. When it comes to IT projects, where PCs presents a number of problems for the
professional reputation and potentially millions organization, including greater data security
of dollars are at stake, it’s worth one or two risk, increased workload on IT staff, lower


disaster recovery capability, and higher energy On the other hand, in the case of something
costs. Virtualizing specific IT systems will like a forseeable, fairly predictable technology
significantly reduce these problems and transition, early and regular engagement of
provide a net financial benefit to the company end users can only help the project’s chances
(compared to the current IT annual cost of long-term effectiveness.
structure) within four years of implementation.
The core of engagement – your engagement
Inevitably, the special requirements of an engine, if you will – is the project’s
organization will necessitate alterations and communications plan. Some organizations,
tweaks to the overall project plan or to sub- depending on how they are set up, may treat
components of it. The first litmus test for communications and training as separate
whether such changes are necessary should be functions. Since engagement (and hence, buy-
whether they are a “must have” or merely a in) depends on both, this paper will treat
“nice to have,” in the context of your problem communications and training as one.
statement.
Initial discussions about virtualization may be
at a very high level and a technical level –
Communications Planning amongst the chief information/technology
officer and other C-level executives from a
Employees at all levels today are incredibly strategic planning standpoint; and amongst IT
busy. While they’ve no doubt benefited from upper management from a technology
productivity tools such as the internet, they've planning standpoint. It may seem premature
also incurred new costs. Structural changes in to bring in representatives from other
business mean they also must accomplish functions at such an early stage.
much more with far fewer resources than in
the past. Consequently, there is a tendency for That said, once the decision is made to
them to miss important information that is not implement virtualization that end-users will
communicated frequently enough and through notice, it is wise to bring your communications
the most appropriate channels. liaison onto the project team. For one thing,
that individual may need time to get up to
A common complaint among employees about speed on how the new technology will work.
change initiatives of all types is that they did The earlier he or she can be exposed to the
not receive enough notice. No one likes to feel peculiar jargon of new technology, the more
blindsided by change, especially that which time that person will have to absorb its
could be disruptive to getting essential work meaning. This, in turn, permits time to convert
done. In some instances, such as sensitive technical-speak into terminology and formats
financial results or possible (but unknown) that the entire organization will be able to
reductions in force, managers have little choice understand and relate to.
but to severely limit the distribution of
information. Circumstances could change mid- What should an effective communications/
course and completely negate previous training plan consist of? The following chart
statements. Disseminating information too lists many of the actions and assets
soon might cause more harm than good. (deliverables) that a highly effective


virtualization communications plan might
contain.


Overcoming Post-Install Adversity landing a windfall client account or struggling
to make this quarter's numbers because of a
Even in small computer networks, a staggering failed presentation.
array and complexity of channels and devices
must communicate with each other. In this section, we'll present a few scenario
“people problems” that teams might face
Operating systems must maintain a menagerie when virtualizing an enterprise, along with
of applications and background computer potential solutions.
“services” intelligently enough to avoid
conflicts. Add to the mix the likelihood of Issue: Users lash out because of system
employees inadvertantly overstressing the hiccups post-virtualization.
system, whether it be through introducing Response: The first and foremost tool that
malicious software or exceeding system implementers need is empathy. Users know or
performance limits. The larger the network, the care little about concepts such as network
bigger these challenges become, and that's latency, bad disks, or missing drivers. They just
just on any system conducting “business as want their computer to work as well as (or
usual.” better than) it did “before IT made all these
When an IT shop makes changes, especially a changes.” One effective approach is to assure
massive one like virtualizing the IT the person experiencing problems that you
infrastructure, problems can seem like they're understand the importance of their work and
crawling out of the circuitry en masse. that you'll work hard to diagnose and fix the
Vendors often wrap their wares in slick problem quickly. Acknowledging shortcomings
marketing language offering “Turn-Key in the system and acknowledging a user’s pain
Installs” and “No-Hassle Implementation.” In goes a long way toward preserving goodwill
truth, many companies have so many and heading off hostility.
differently configured, often proprietary IT
assets in play that there's no way for them to
migrate seamlessly to a completely off-the- Issue: Users point out the system actually
shelf, hands-off software product. If the goal is performs worse after a virtualization switch.
virtualizing a network, the client is guaranteed
to have some work cut out in customizing Response: This is a perfect example of why IT
their product. project managers in particular should opt to
“kill the monster while it's a baby,” whenever
For end users, this presents the possibility that possible. Virtualization provides a great
more than a few technological gremlins will opportunity to consolidate servers, or do more
emerge in any given period after the with less. However, the architecture of
transition. It's essentiall for IT (and internal virtualized networks requires them to use
communications) staffs to understand the more memory and processing power than
impact to users. A set of custom fonts that non-virtualized systems – this is called
disappears from a network drive could be “overhead.” The result is slower and more
more than an inconvenience: It could mean glitch-prone performance with applications
the difference for a sales exec between that demand high throughput and require lots


of memory. To mitigate this, it pays to identify Response: Familiarity fosters comfort. Thus,
current and future high-performance needs the best way to help employees adjust to a
ahead of time and plan accordingly. Your new system is to provide plenty of training
implementation plan might include upgrading before the new system goes live. Furthermore,
to faster servers, putting high-performance on-demand training or at a minimum, online
applications on non-virtualized machines, or documentation, should be available for people
both. to reference at any time following initial
training. Timing plays a critical role. Training
offered too far in advance runs the risk of
Issue: Users complain they are having being forgotten by learners. Training that takes
something taken away from them/say they are place too close to the switchover may leave
being stripped of capability. learners feeling rushed and overwhelmed.
Refer to the chart for recommendations on
Response: People have a tendency to view
how to schedule virtualization training for end
company-issued assets as their own. They
users (employees who will ultimately work in
personalize their PC desktops and may use
the virtualized computing environment but
company drives and applications (such as
don't necessarily need to know the ins and
email) for personal needs. When virtualizing a
outs of the system itself).
network, companies must consider carefully
how they configure certain users and groups
of users. It would be perfectly fine to issue a
call center worker a network PC – one with no
hard drive or installed applications. With
assignments that never strayed outside normal
office hours, such stationary employees could
rely on a constant connection to the company
network to access computing resources online.

On the other hand, employees with mobile
devices may quite often need to work offline –
in places where they can't connect to the
company network. So it may be a good idea
to identify those people and equip their
mobile devices with their own copies of
important software, plus local storage and
processors powerful enough to run them.

Issue: Users feel disoriented by a new
interface or new procedures needed to
accomplish their everyday tasks.


security by reducing the footprint of physical
devices through which hackers can attempt to
access company information.
Closing Thoughts
It's incumbent upon organizations to educate
their staff about all these benefits and transfer
The phrase “stakeholder engagement” has the enthusiasm of knowledgeable IT personnel
been bandied about in business so much that to non-IT staff. An effective alliance among
its significance can be lost in project planning team members from IT, communications, and
documents. So we'll put it in more direct human relations can make this happen.
language: you must grab and keep the
attention of all the people that matter. And
just who are they? The people that matter are
all the people who will be affected by your
virtualization project. About the Author
Effective communication forms the linchpin of Akweli Parker (CompTIA Green IT-
ensuring success both during and post- certified) is founder and managing
installation. Honest, open communication director of Digital Delta Media, a New
throughout the process can generate patience Jersey-based content strategy firm. He
and understanding, even amidst the has worked as a technology journalist
inconvenience imposed by any technical and author, a marketing and
issues.Your users are people. They want to be communications consultant, and
listened to and for their problems to be technical trainer, and has won
acknowledged. numerous awards and recognition for
his writing and public speaking. He has
Formulating a detailed and thoughtfully worked directly with several
conceived virtualization communications plan organizations to formulate IT articles,
will help your project go much more smoothly white papers, and support materials,
than communicating ad hoc. You will no doubt as well as developed internal
have to adjust the plan as events develop on communications to bridge the
the technical side. This is normal. A good plan understanding gap between IT staff
and the user community.
offers the freedom of flexibility and the
certainty (reduced risk) of structure at the Contact him at
same time. aparker@digitaldeltamedia.com or call
855-433-6334 (855-4-DDMEDIA), toll
IT departments are understandably excited free, for information on speaking
about all the potential benefits of engagements, customized white
virtualization. It's a technology that promises papers, and training solutions for your
to save organizations money while it frees up organization.
IT staff to engage in more meaningful work.
Reduced power consumption means it's good
for the environment. It can even enhance
© 2012 Digital Delta Media LLC. All rights reserved.


Communicating Virtualization to Non-IT Audiences

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