Midsize companies have jumped on the virtualization bandwagon to achieve cost savings on hardware, power and space, according to survey results released Tuesday.

More than 75% of 519 IT professionals surveyed in October by King Research have already deployed some type of virtualization technology and about 10% others intend to do so in the next 12 months. The survey, commissioned by systems management vendor Kace, shows that virtualization isn't just for enterprise IT shops anymore as more than half (55%) of companies polled said cost savings on hardware, power and space were the primary drivers for adopting the technology. More than 80% of those who have deployed the technology reported experiencing savings from reduced hardware requirements.

About 56% of the companies surveyed represented midsize companies, or those with between 100 and 5,000 employees. Eighty-five percent of midsize companies have deployed or have plans to deploy some form of virtualization technology in the next 12 months, and about 64% of midsize companies report that their organizations have already adopted application virtualization or plan to do so within 12 months.

"The idea that virtualization is strictly an enterprise commodity simply doesn't hold -- medium enterprises are embracing virtualization technologies and adopting them at a rapid pace, realizing immediate benefits," said King Research's Diane Hagglund, in a statement.

Yet challenges remain. About 37% said that lack of virtualization expertise limited adoption plans and 35% cited costs as a prohibitive factor in adopting the technology.

"The other limiting factors mentioned included lack of vendor support for virtual platforms and the comfort of the application development department with virtualization technology," the survey reads.