Having the IT background definitely helps.
I think the best way to get started is to get your hands on some of the products. VMware Player is free and will allow you to create and run virtual machines and start to get an understanding of the fundamentals. You can install this on just about any modern laptop/desktop and get right to work.
A lab would be useful later on, when you want to look at the ESXi hypervisor. You can build a great lab in VMware Workstation also at minimal cost in comparison to a real lab.