Virtualisation shifts to the desktop

Definitions vary, but desktop virtualisation eases management headaches

Virtualisation giants VMware and Citrix are reporting increasing interest in desktop virtualisation and growing uptake of the relatively recent technology in New Zealand. However, for the local mid-market, the cost benefits of a virtualised desktop environment are not quite there yet, says one ICT services provider.

Desktop virtualisation is different from simple remote desktop solutions, which typically are costly and can result in high levels of user dissatisfaction, says Tim Dacombe-Bird, VMware’s New Zealand regional manager.

“A centralised desktop deployment model … such as a hosted desktop that utilises a shared server operating system, like Terminal Services, meets the IT departments requirements of centralised desktops. However, the user experience suffers from a severe lack of flexibility as these environments must be tightly locked down due to their shared underlying operating system,” he says.

A single change by one user, for example, could impact all users connected to the same server.

“Desktop virtualisation solves the issues of both the business and the user experience, by providing centralised deployments with complete flexibility as users have come to expect,” he says.

In the past year, VMware has seen “strong interest” in desktop virtualisation from nearly all of its existing virtualised datacentre customers in New Zealand, says Dacombe-Bird. Adoption has been in line with expectations following the release of VMware View 4 late last year, he says.

“This was a major release for our desktop business,” says Dacombe-Bird. “The inclusion of the new communications protocol, PC-over-IP (PCoIP) has removed the last technical barrier to adoption, as PCoIP significantly improves the performance of multimedia and Flash applications.”


Costs drop

According to Citrix’s Chris Lockery, interest in desktop virtualisation is high and local adoption is “definitely increasing”.

Citrix’s customers often start out looking at specific projects and then expand adoption to other areas of the business, because of positive user experiences and realised benefits, he says.

The company’s desktop virtualisation customers come from a wide range of sectors, including government, retail, health, service providers and the corporate sector, he says. But the most successful sector in recent months has been education. Lockery puts this down to Citrix XenDesktop 4’s licensing model and its Flexcast features, which offer more options for desktop virtualisation over and above the Virtual Desktop Infrastructure – such as hosted shared desktops, local streamed desktops, virtual applications to installed desktops and, in the near future, local virtual machine-based desktops, he says.