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Ongoing Virtualization Activities at NRC
Darren Ash, CIO, NRC
Posted August 19, 2010
I recently participated in a panel discussion about Virtualization. The discussion started with a solid explanation of what it is, why it is important, and how it is being used both in the public and private sector. There are a large number of tutorials and explanations on the web. However, as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Virtualization is the simulation of the software and/or hardware upon which other software runs. This simulated environment is called a virtual machine (VM). There are many forms of virtualization.
Federal agencies have different reasons to initiate a Virtualization program. The reasons can range from reducing power consumption (greening), reducing operating and maintenance costs, creating a more efficient and organized data center, improving desktop management, improving service delivery, to creating a more efficient way to manage operating software. Definitely not a full list of benefits, by any means!! A large percentage of federal, state, and local agencies are implementing at least one form of Virtualization and most are realizing benefits from the technology.
Besides learning from other members of the panel, I related NRC’s approach to Virtualization, and answered some really good questions. With respect to the NRC, we’ve chosen to take a three-phased approach, first focusing on the “low hanging fruit” or in other words, the easy, quick wins. Why? We need to gain a good understanding of what we can handle, before we start to tackle the more complex phases. Phase two will focus on areas that seem to make sense, likely web services and application servers. Phase three will zero in on the more complex areas, including those systems or services that the public accesses and uses. I did tell the group that I do not expect that we’ll ever get to 100% virtualization, since everything we have will not virtualize well or should be virtualized. It is the same discussion we have had about cloud services. Not everything belongs in a cloud. What is most important is justifying the business case(s). The choices we make have to be the right ones for meeting the business needs of the NRC.
When we went to the question and answer portion of the panel, I was struck by one question in particular. The attendee wanted to know what skills are critical for a Federal employee to manage a successful virtualization program. My reply went beyond the obvious – understanding the underlying technology – and, instead centered on some of the fundamentals. These fundamentals, in my view, are the “blocking and tackling” of IT project management: establishing goals, creating success measures, documenting and managing risks, communicating, and project planning. These fundamental success factors are key to any IT project, including successfully launching into Virtualization management.
