Virtualization technology has made great strides in allowing the creation of the next generation of efficient, easily manageable, highly available, and dynamic data centers. Future developments in virtualization as a technology, the processes involved and hardware technology employed will be impressive and ground-breaking.

Desktop virtualization is a very hot topic these days as companies try to get even more efficient and consolidate resources, make better use of IT administrative hours and deploy desktops based on the needs of individual department tasks and computing requirements. Virtual desktops can be maintained centrally and are versatile when it comes to the end user access. The same virtual desktop used within the building can be accessed remotely.

Virtualization will be explored as an option in areas previously not considered feasible. Cell phone companies are already investigating its applicability in providing multiple phone environments on the same hardware. In the future you could choose your handset and then specify whether you wanted blackberry OS, Windows Mobile, or both.

A different mindset will have to be embraced to fully make use of the benefits inherent in virtualization. Steps normally applied to the flow of a project will either be shortened or removed all together. The use of virtualization will continue to spur increased ingenuity as the path from concept to testing, to production, is greatly shortened when virtual environments can be rolled out within minutes. When you remove the step of having to acquire physical computing assets before you can test your ideas, you take a great chunk of time and budgetary needs out of the equation towards the quest for a refined business solution.

Hardware technology will better enable the use of virtualization as components and will be designed to better facilitate the virtualization process, hypervisor, and interaction of data I/O between the software and physical layers. Advancements are already being made in these areas that will revolutionize the way data is accessed and manipulated. In the future I can see servers being purchased with the hypervisor already included in firmware, which will then be easily updated and managed with an even smaller foot print.

The future of virtualization means a refinement in the way people interact with technology and above all, better efficiency on all levels.