New DEFRA transactional systems of any magnitude are now developed and deployed by IBM on server infrastructure that is based on the principles of virtualisation. DEFRA currently has over 120 separate server images mapped across approximately 12 physical servers. We adopt this approach to reduce IT costs by using resources efficiently and to reduce our carbon footprint.
Discussions on the merits and best practice in deployment of the virtualisation of server hardware are held at official level with other Government Departments through the Cabinet Office chaired Chief Technology Officers Council and with our supplier IBM.