Virtualisation and data security are tipped as the hot topics for 2011, according to a survey by IP EXPO 2010.

Eighty-eight per cent of participants in the survey said data security is a key objective and spending priority for the remainder of 2010 and throughout 2011, with virtualisation a close second with 85.8 per cent of responses.

This, IP EXPO said, demonstrates the difficulty for IT managers in that they wish to adopt virtualisation, but have their reservations about the security of the technology and its ability to protect the data held by companies.

Fifty-seven per cent of participants believe that the roll-out of virtualisation and cloud-based technologies will have to take a back seat until security guarantees can be demonstrated.

However, only three per cent of respondents said security issues will entirely stop their business from adopting virtualisation. Four-fifths said virtualisation will force a revision of enterprise security tools and procedures, but 81 per cent said that, as a result, virtualisation could in fact offer the opportunity to improve their business’s overall data security.

“The data security issues surrounding virtualisation are something the entire IT industry is coming together to address,” explained Adam Malik, content director for Imago Techmedia. “The priority is to make sure that this groundbreaking technology can meet the needs of companies of all sizes as well as some of the UK’s highest risk legal and financial companies.”

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