Blade servers continue to gain acceptance in enterprise computing as users view different ways of deploying them, according to a report released Tuesday.

Noting that it has interviewed 130 users at different stages of deployment, market research firm TheInfoPro (TIP) said users are evenly divided between "scaling out" (adding small units like blades) and "scaling up" (adding processing power by virtualizing larger systems.) TIP added that many users are virtualizing on blades.

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"User opinion of blade servers has shifted from disappointment over unfulfilled promises, to acceptance and understanding of just where blades fit in the enterprise," Bob Gill, TIP chief research officer, said in a statement.

"As vendors have toned down the hype over blades, users are increasingly viewing blades as simply another form factor with unique advantages and disadvantages, rather than some radically new server type."

TIP said more than 85 percent of the users polled look at blade servers as "valuable" or "critical" to their long-term server plans.

The market research firm said that Intel's blade servers have been rising steadily since its previous blade server study a year ago. The processor company moved into the second place position from the seventh position last year.