"But it's not a simple rip-and-replace solution," Fernando clarified. EMC's strategy, he said, includes a detailed forensics of the firm's current infrastructure in order to tailor-fit a virtualization solution specific to their needs. This is the reason, he added, why they "can't put a price on [their] offerings. Every firm's needs are unique."

Despite this renewed interest in virtualization complemented by the current financial crisis, Lazatino notes that uptake in the Philippines is still not catching up. "Most of the firms are still in the light virtualization phase," he explained, predicting that it would take at least five years before a fully-automated virtualized data center is realized.

In light of this, EMC is urging companies to consider virtualization, given that "information will continue to grow, crisis or not," Fernando said, adding that the journey to virtualization makes a strong business sense that needs to be capitalized up on by business executives.