Even when times have been good, when the economy is strong and everything looks rosy, those lucky folk charged with buying IT solutions frequently exhibit signs of reluctance, if not downright fear and panic, when it comes to buying new solutions or technology. Indeed, research that we have carried out in the past illustrates that over 4 out of every 5 IT managers confess to having held back from implementing new technologies because of perceived "risk".

This state of affairs has delayed solution procurement processes for years. Of course, when macro economic woes grab the headlines week after week, the fear of buying anything, never mind complex IT solutions, becomes subject to even greater levels of scrutiny.

This makes today a good time to ask, is it time for IT purchasing decision making processes to move forward? Clearly, whenever times are tough, business focus shifts to seeking out solutions that can visibly demonstrate a clear return on investment. Equally the fear of buying the "wrong solution" can be similarly intensified. The question thus becomes, should some of the IT systems/solutions available today be inherently less risky?

One could argue that, when it comes to considering the deployment of major server infrastructure-based solutions, the advent of server virtualisation technologies has helped to remove significant concerns in at least one area, namely system deployment. The capabilities required to permit new systems to be deployed rapidly, once all necessary testing has been performed, helps reduce some concerns that have bedevilled IT for decades. Of equal importance, the speed with which solutions can be "rolled back" to an established, sound state helps further to mitigate considerable elements of risk associated with upgrades.

Contrary to some expectations, virtualisation is not the answer-to paraphrase Douglas Adams-to life, the universe and everything in IT. The various technologies available under this umbrella can help mitigate much of the risk as well as potentially reducing costs and increasing utilisation. They can also provide considerable scope to enhance flexibility in systems where previously it would have been operationally awkward, if not downright silly, to intervene unless circumstances so dictate. It is not a panacea.

There has always been risk associated with change. There are major challenges for IT to face, especially as systems become inherently more flexible as the full capabilities available through the use of virtualisation technologies are exploited in the real world. Chief amongst these will be to implement robust change management procedures that, whilst containing risk to acceptable levels, still permit IT solutions to be more dynamically varied in the face of rapidly altering business conditions and challenges. The need for better communications channels to be operational between IT managers and business users will similarly be thrown into harsh contrast.