Twice as many Australian businesses are using virtualisation than the rest of the world, according to analysts. Between 8 and 9 percent of medium to enterprise businesses are virtualizing their x86 servers, Gartner says, while global uptake remains at about 4 to 5 percent.

Analysts admit the numbers are surprising given Gartner forecasts that US businesses will spend $US942.2 billion on IT, almost 20 times more than the $US47.8 billion which will be spent by Australian organisations.

Gartner's servers and storage vice president Phil Sargeant said the figures, derived from research into organisational IT maturity, show Australians are spearheading virtualisation uptake.

"The deployment of virtualisation is greater in Australia than anywhere else in the world [and] these figures have been backed up by VMware and the like," Sargeant said, adding the results were based in part on a mix of consumer and vendor feedback.

"Uptake of virtualisation has been growing steadily for the past few years, and has accelerated during the last 12 months."

The IT maturity survey, produced early this year, canvassed issues including the perception of IT by the business and the use of emerging technology.