Step into the Cloud or Stop with Virtualization – The Project Manager’s Dialectic Dilemma

Abstract Virtualization and Cloud Computing are terminologies which are often used interchangeably within organizations largely due to the fact that, modern IT trends justify that the ‘Cloud’ is an inevitable and extremely lucrative technology which will have to be adopted for uninterrupted business continuity and better manageability. This paper attempts to draw the boundaries, whereby infrastructure project managers should consider staying with a virtualized infrastructure instead of stepping into the cloud. Reduced capital Expenditures (CapEx), Operational expenditures (OpEx), Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Infrastructure availability are some of the major factors that have been considered, from a project manager’s perspective, while discussing the content presented in this paper.