As the CTO and founder of software maker DataSynapse, Jamie Bernardin frequently finds himself trying to convince IT leaders and administrators to do something they've been hardwired not to: Stop thinking about managing their servers.

DataSynapse is in the business of decoupling applications from their infrastructure using grid technology. This ability to virtualize workloads across shared computing resources goes hand in hand with optimizing the use of those resources. So Bernardin haunts the boardrooms of corporate America, challenging customers to pare down their server farms and encouraging companies to escape the vicious cycle of setting up additional rooms full of heat-emitting, power-sucking machines.

With a background in risk management and applications design at financial services companies Barclays Global Investors and Bank of America, and having served as a NASA research fellow conducting laser physics and numerical modeling research, Bernardin feels well qualified to tell customers just how they can ride the virtualization wave to keep their systems running more efficiently and with lower energy costs.

Bernardin contends that his company can help enterprises save both time and money, while helping to lower the environmental impact of IT systems. Companies can expand and contract the capacity of their computer resources on the fly in response to the shifting needs of applications, while at the same time enjoying the ability to provision, activate, and manage applications faster and with fewer headaches.

According to Bernardin, his most significant contribution to the company has been the development of FabricServer, which centralizes command and control over transactional applications deployed in a shared grid environment.

"It's exciting any time that you can convince people to do things in such a different way than they are accustomed, but it is always a challenge when you present something so radical and try to get people to really change," said Bernardin. "There are tremendous benefits…in moving to this new model, and as people create more virtual environments and begin tying them together in a tighter fashion, there will be even greater gains to be realized over the next four to five years."