Six Things We’ve Learned About Desktop Virtualization

Today is our last VDI Trender post for a little white – I know you’re all heartbroken – so we will do a little recap of what we’ve learned during the past two months and what we might be seeing as we gaze into our virtual crystal ball.

Learning #1: Confusion, Anyone?

For a technology as widely hyped as VDI, the language can be a tad confusing. VDI is a specific type of desktop virtualization, right, but some users and vendors use it as an all-inclusive term that reflects the overall market. In fact, it is not even clear that VDI will emerge as the industry standard, given the costs involved in building the infrastructure and the challenges with mobility/user experience. Then again, VDI does have the support of major vendors and that usually takes a technology solution a long way.

Learning #2: Focus on Benefits

Forget the hype and focus on actual benefits. At one point Gartner predicted that virtual desktops would account for 40 percent of the worldwide professional PC market by 2013. The more interesting way to learn about the market is to look at actual deployments – how companies are using virtual desktops, which users are benefiting, which users are balking, how much it actually costs, what kind of ROI are they actually experiencing. Go to shows, contact colleagues, even look at vendor case studies and then reach out to the people quoted in those case studies. There’s a real story here, but it will take some work to understand which of the many truths about virtual desktops will apply to your situation. Think of it as a virtual Rashomon.

Learning #3: The Future is Now

When you think about the benefits, don’t expect ROI to be the main reason to invest in virtual desktops. Just about all of the research we’ve done shows that IT professionals have been somewhat disappointed in the ROI deliverables. Where they have been most pleased is in the control, reduced complexity, increased security and other benefits that make their lives in IT simpler and easier to manage. The other big thing: Think of this as an investment in the future. The more you learn now about how, where, when and why to deploy desktop virtualization, the more ably and successfully you will be able to roll it out for new users and applications. This is definitely a new wave in the world of client computing, so you want to be able to catch it and ride it at a time that is appropriate to your organization

Learning #4: The Vendors Are Highly Engaged

For VMware, desktop virtualization is the opportunity to create a new paradigm, just as they did with server virtualization. For Microsoft, this is an opportunity to protect their long-standing position and crown jewels. For Citrix, this is a chance to make a major mark on the industry. Often, in a highly competitive environment such as this one – especially when Microsoft is involved – vendors will do unusual things to secure your business. This is particularly true in the early stages of a market, when they can lock you in as a customer for many years. If you have leverage as a customer, our advice is to use it. It doesn’t always happen this way.

Learning #5: Don’t Lock in on Thin Clients

Just because the thin client is a widely promoted solution, don’t think that it will solve any of your challenges in deploying desktop virtualization. Innovations are continuing to be made at the desktop – with more intelligence than ever before at the client level – and these innovations offer real advantages in security, an enhanced user experience and in future-proofing your environment as the winds of technology continue to change and blow from different directions. It’s important not to lock in on one solution and to be open to considering intelligence at the client level for the greatest flexibility in all of your applications.

Learning #6: VDI, Desktop Virtualization – Whatever You Call It – Is Happening

Whatever shape it takes, whatever technology solutions win out, however IT manages to deploy it, desktops will become far more highly virtualized over the next several years. The shift to a more cloud-like computing environment is real, the growth of IT-based-services is real, the path to a new paradigm is real and being blazed. Wherever you are in your deployment, even if you’ve decided VDI is not for you or you need to wait and see about desktop virtualization, it is time now to get smart about this technology and understand what it can and cannot do for your organization. I guarantee you — you will be asked, so you better be prepared with some smart answers.

That’s what we have. So we say so long for now. I’m sure we’ll meet again.

Three Different Takes on Desktop Virtualization

What are people in the blogosphere saying these days about desktop virtualization? Actually, before we ask that, we should ask if there is really such a thing as the blogosphere anymore. In any case, there are people who write blogs and they have been writing about VDI and desktop virtualization, and here are three of the more interesting posts we’ve seen in the past couple of weeks.

There’s an piece by Dan Kusnetzky on ZDnet that discusses Intel’s approach to what it calls “Intelligent Desktop Virtualization” based on a conversation with Lisa Watts, Director of Business Client Solutions at Intel (Intel’s concept for intelligent desktop virtualization). The article notes that Intel’s concept of intelligent desktop virtualization is “using virtualization technology to create an environment that has the following characteristics:”

• Centralized management, but local execution
• Layered images delivered intelligently (layered images are virtual environments constructed on the fly that include system software, application software, application data, user preferences and user data)
• Intelligent device management that uses the capabilities available on the machine in the most intelligent way (graphs would be processed locally, for example, if a system has a high-performance graphics system)

Companies that offer products that are examples of Intelligent Desktop Virtualization: RES Software, Virtual Computer, Wanova, MokaFive and Scense.

Here’s a real interesting post from Spankmeister at Spiceworks (Virtualization: What’s next for the enterprise? VDI, that’s what). This one was just posted yesterday and already has 50 replies. Spankmeister wrote about his own experience using VDI. He started by researching a couple of vendors that support VDI; made sure it worked with his existing infrastructure; got a couple of test devices, and tested on both LAN and remote locations. Here are some of his conclusions, based on what’s he’s done so far:

• Performance is actually INCREASED using VDI
• Scalability is “frickin AWESOME – I can roll out 20 new machines if needed in minutes using templates”
• “You can save some serious $$$ in hardware and administrative costs”
• Don’t expect these (zero client solutions) to work well over a connection that has a lot of latency
• Don’t expect a user that has really high computing needs (like video editors of heavy graphic artists) to get any improvement from VDI
• Don’t expect cost savings if you are implementing seven virtual workstations – the more you deploy the bigger the savings “and the break-even point can be substantial”

If you’re thinking about deploying VDI, or if you’re in the process of evaluating, it will be well worth taking a look at this post and also looking at the various comments.

Ken Hess, also of ZDnet, expresses why he’s had a change of heart about VDI, from being strongly against to being a fan of certain types of desktop infrastructure implementations (Is VDI Really an Option?). Why the change of heart, he asks himself: Timing and technology, he answers. “VDI really was not an option before,” he says, “But it is now,” nothing that it’s time to look at VDI again in a serious and more practical way. Hess suggests that you convert a few dozen desktops as a test. “The test will provide feedback about how well your employees work with virtual desktops in each area of your business,” he suggests. “Some departments will prove easy to convert, others will be difficult due to user issues, a few will have correctible technical difficulties and a very small percentage will not be able to make the switch.”

Hess has an interesting take on the future, particularly for someone who was not an advocate of VDI for a while. “Is it the future of desktop computing,” he asks himself again. His reply: “For 90 percent of us, yes. For the other 10 percent, it’s a little further into the future.”

What do you think? Is VDI, or some form of Intelligent Desktop Virtualization, as Intel describes it, the future of client computing? If you have an opinion, feel free to comment on the site. Even if you don’t have an opinion you can comment on the site anyway.

VMware Targets Government Apps With Partner Program

Interesting announcement earlier this week from VMware of a new program for partners who provide VMware-based VDI solutions to the federal government. The new VMware Ready Desktop Solutions Program will initially be offered by qualified VMware solution providers supplying VDI solutions to help U.S. government agencies comply with the Telework Act of 2010. This act requires the head of each Federal agency to develop IT infrastructure that supports telework policies.

As noted on SearchITChannel.com, the Telework Act of 2010 aims to ensure that government employees can work productively and securely whether they’re in the office or not. VMware notes in its press release that it plans to expand the VMware Ready Desktop Solutions Program to include solutions from qualified partners in additional targeted vertical markets, including education and healthcare.

The advantage for customers: VMware and its partners validate the complete solution stack, including hardware solutions for compute, storage and network resources, and identify qualified delivery partners who can deploy and support and end-to-end desktop virtualization solution.

Our opinion: This is a good move for VMware and possibly for VDI as a whole. It is also the move of a market leader determined to solidify its position as the market shifts towards a new paradigm: In this case, VMware utilizing its strength in server virtualization – and its relationships with partners – to build a foundation for leadership in VDi as well. Utilizing partners to target specific verticals with a “validated” solution is a way to grow the market and to grow demand. Targeting the federal government is another wise choice, particularly in light of the Telework Act and the push across government agencies to cut costs without hampering productivity. It will be interesting to monitor how this one plays out. What do you think? Please feel free to comment.

What Are the Drivers For Desktop Virtualization

So, we mentioned this survey the other day from Matrix24 showing that 59 percent of companies surveyed at 2011 Citrix Synergy are either in the process of deploying desktop virtualization, or planning to deploy within the next six months. I guess that’s one of the reasons they were attending the show, right?

So why are they doing it – what are the key drivers to their desktop virtualization initiatives? Their answers:

• Reduce management or support costs: 42 percent
• More user flexibility and mobility: 33 percent
• Improved availability or performance: 24 percent
• Hardware and/or software cost savings: 22 percent
• Improved security and compliance: 22 percent

What are some of the other survey results?

• When asked if they would prefer to manage physical and virtual desktops with the same management tool or separate tools, 70 percent of respondents said they would prefer the same tool, while 27 percent said the had no preference. Only three percent would prefer separate tools.
• When asked how long they expected their initial deployment of virtual desktops to take, 21 percent said more than 12 months; 13 percent said nine to 12 months; 16 percent said six to nine months; 16 percent said three to six months; 23 percent said less than three months, and 11 percent said they didn’t know.
• When asked about the trend towards “bring your own device,” 62 percent said they either currently support it or are working on it. Another 28 percent said they don’t support it and have no plans to support it.

On the same topic, respondents were asked what are the biggest challenges they see to the bringing your own device initiatives. Their most common answers, in order, were:

• Ensuring security
• Managing multiple types of devices
• Ensuring a consistent user experience
• Ensuring employees have access to their applications
• Ensuring employees have access to their data

What do you think? How do these answers mesh with yours? Feel free to post a comment.

Desktop Virtualization: Welcome to the Mainstream

Get this: If you’re not doing desktop virtualization this year you are now in the minority. At least that’s what research from a company called Matrix42 is indicating. According to this survey, 59 percent of companies are either in process or planning to deploy desktop virtualization within the next six months. Of those companies that are either in process of deploying or planning, 32 percent are already deploying and 27 percent plan to start within the next six months. Only four percent of respondents said they have no plans at all to deploy desktop virtualization, with an additional 12 percent saying they don’t know what they are planning to do.

We would guess that the data is somewhat skewed: The research was conducted at the 2011 Citrix Synergy San Francisco conference, which would clearly cater to companies inclined towards desktop virtualization. But Matrix42 notes that the findings were consistent with research it conducted at the CeBIT conference in Europe. In fact, the totals among CeBIT attendees were even higher, at 66 percent either deploying or planning to deploy.

Of course, this does not mean that all of a sudden by next year everyone will be doing desktop virtualization. Respondents were asked what percent of their desktops are currently virtual: The median response was only 5 percent. The vast majority of respondents were under 20 percent. A year from now, however, respondents are saying that they expect 20 percent of their desktops to be virtual and nearly a third of the companies said at least half of their desktops would be virtual. Tellingly, the respondents were clear that physical desktops aren’t going away any time soon. Organizations said they will need to support and manage both physical and virtual desktops, in most cases indefinitely.

What are the biggest benefits of desktop virtualization? Tune in for our next post as we explore why desktop virtualization is becoming more and more mainstream.

What’s Up With Virtual Containers?

What’s going on with virtual containers as a desktop virtualization strategy?

Intel had been – and presumably still is – a major proponent of virtual containers as an alternative to hypervisor-based VDI solutions. I was looking through some older marketing material from Intel and they make a strong case, but there seems to be a lot less momentum in virtual containers than in VDI.

With virtual containers you basically have the operating system and applications created and managed centrally by IT and then streamed to the client, where there is a client-based virtual machine manager (VMM). One of the major advantages of this approach is that it doesn’t require the same type of infrastructure investment as VDI because much of the workload takes place on the client side. Another advantage is mobility, since users can cache their virtual containers for off-network use, then hook back up to the network.

It is my understanding that virtual containers typically mean the use of one operating system, which is a disadvantage versus VDI, but I am not 100 percent sure if this issue has been addressed or is being addressed. Another potential disadvantage is that interactions between applications may be limited.

So what’s the story with virtual containers and what impact will they have in the world of desktop virtualization? I have a feeling someone from Intel may be reading this blog, so perhaps we can generate our first comment(s). Yes?

Top IT Trends: Where’s VDI?

The Techster is getting ready to move offices so it’s been a time of cleaning out files, which is always fun. I have in front of me a list of Gartner’s Top Ten strategic technologies for 2010 and 2009 and it’s interesting to see kind of where things crossed over in terms of VDI. In 2009, while virtualization was number one on the list, there was really no mention of desktops or clients at all. It was all about server virtualization. By 2010, client computing had made the Top Ten chart, debuting at Number Three.

This was what made client virtualization so important all of a sudden, according to Gartner: “Enterprises need to develop a five- to eight-year client computing roadmap before making near-term decisions such as whether or how to upgrade client hardware or move to Windows 7. The progression of desktop virtualization technology and the range of devices available make this an important analysis. Build a strategic client computing roadmap bringing all issues and devices together, or you will be following vendor roadmaps.”

I also recall in this period between 2009 and 2010 Gartner made the bold prediction that virtual hosted desktops would account for 40 percent of the worldwide professional PC market by the end of 2013. Things will have to happen quite quickly for that prediction to come true. So, we these old market reports staring me in the face and awaiting disposal to the nearest trash can, I turn to Google to see where VDI stands in Gartner’s Top Ten strategic technologies for 2011. Pardon me while I switch to another window. And the answer is . . . big surprise . . . I figured with client computing at Number Three last year and predictions of major growth, certainly it would make the Top Five this year, perhaps even number two or three behind the obvious Number One, cloud computing . . . still, the answer is . . . nada. VDI, or desktop virtualization, or client virtualization, or however you want to characterize it, is nowhere on the list of Gartner’s Top Ten technology initiatives for 2011. Go figure. What are the Top 10:

1. Cloud Computing
2. Mobile Applications and Media Tablets
3. Social Communications and Collaboration
4. Video
5. Next-Generation Analytics
6. Social Analytics
7. Context-Aware Computing
8. Storage Class Memory
9. Ubiquitous Computing
10. Fabric-based infrastructure and computers

What do you think? Has VDI fallen off the radar screen? Most research shows that 80 to 90 percent of IT professionals are either deploying some form or desktop virtualization or considering it. Wouldn’t that seem to be an important trend? Or am I just prejudiced because the name of my blog is VDI Trender?

Thinking VDI? Have You Thought About Storage?

If you’re thinking about VDI, one of the most important considerations is your storage infrastructure. First of all, you’ll have to have a lot more capacity in your centralized storage environment whether it’s a SAN or NAS. The reality is most of the data on dedicated storage on your desktops will now be centralized in a VDI environment, even if you continue to utilize intelligent clients with localized storage. But storage capacity is only part of the picture. Performance is equally important. With VDI the last thing you want is for the storage infrastructure to introduce latency into your users’ experience. If that happens, it may be bye, bye VDI.

You have to consider storage infrastructures that are able to deliver on scalability and high performance. In addition, you want to make sure the storage infrastructure has several key features, such as data deduplication and intelligent tiering to help you manage data during it’s entire life cycle. This is important because (1) data growth is a serious challenge (particularly the growth of unstructured data) and just buying more storage is no solution, and (2) with deduplication and intelligent tiering technologies you can significantly reduce the amount of data you are storing and you can also store it on devices appropriate to its value to your organization. This enhances performance and optimization.

I was thinking about all of this while doing research for a client and I came upon an interesting article on the Tech Target site SearchStorage.co.UK from last week, written by Nigel Poulon, who is a storage architect working for a large global financial organization, or, as they say across the pond, organisation. You can check out the article yourself (VDI storage: Planning for the storage needs of a new virtual desktop implementation), but here are some of the key points:

• Be aware of boot storms. These occur when large numbers of workers arrive at work and start up their machines at the same time, or when many users are performing the same function, such as a virus scan. The boot storm relies in high I/O for specific periods, so when you’re shopping for a storage platform, make sure you ask your vendor how it handles boot storms.
• Think about read cache. According to Poulon, supplementing hard drives with sufficient reach cache in the array reduces back-end disk I/O and, therefore, it reduces latency. This means less back-end storage is needed for I/O purposes and there’s usually a better user experience due to decreased latency.
• Make sure you have data deduplication. “Deploying array-based block deduplication technologies is a no-brainer in today’s VDI environments,” Poulon states, noting that block-based data deduplication technologies commonly yield space savings of up to 80 to 90 percent. Post-process block-based dedupe is also a good fit, he notes, because there is generally not a large amount of data change being injested so space requirements won’t explode during the working day.

What do you think? Any tips about storage for VDI environments? Feel free to post a comment (or two).

VDI, The Channel & Insight From The VAR Guy

One of the big events in the VDI market each year is Citrix Synergy, which took place last week in San Francisco. I wasn’t able to attend, but I did notice that my good friend The VAR Guy was there and I popped him a few questions about the event, and about how resellers view VDI in general. If you are not familiar with The VAR Guy, he/it is the most interesting and fun blog in the channel and a must-read for anyone involved in the reseller community. Anyway, here’s our quick Q&A:

The Techster: What did you think of Citrix Synergy?

The VAR Guy: The event proved that the virtualization market remains in hyper growth mode, with growing interest in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). It seems pretty darn clear that virtualization is both an opportunity and a challenge. It vastly improves server utilization rates and application access from all types of devices. But that also creates the need for new management tools to oversee all of those virtualized desktops and servers.

The Techster: What did you make of the Microsoft/Citrix announcement from last week?

The VAR Guy: The companies have worked together on a range of projects for more than a decade; it’s good to see that continuing. It seems like VDI is the next natural opportunity. Lots of businesses are looking for ways to go from Windows XP to Windows 7. And VDI may ease those migrations. By centralizing and virtualizing Windows 7 systems on servers, it’s far easier for businesses to manage user images and applications.

The Techster: What do VARs think about VDI in general?

The VAR Guy: Overall, most VARs still view VDI as an emerging opportunity. But smart VARs are piloting or deploying VDI solutions now. The big opportunity seems to involve mobility. With VDI, users can access all of their desktop applications from smart phones, tablets, notebooks, PCs and more. But it takes a good VAR to deploy VDI with the proper security, identity management and corporate compliance settings in place.

Any VARs out there? What do you think about VDI? Is The VAR Guy on target (as usual)? Please feel free to comment.

VDI & the Old Time Culture Wars

The Techster is actually old enough to remember that there was a time when there were no personal computers. IT departments – they were actually called MIS departments, for Management Information Systems – pretty much controlled everything. If you had a computer on your desk it was perhaps an IBM 3270 terminal and it was used for a specific function, controlled by IT. There was no Internet to distract you, no games, no sports scores to check, no video, no nothing. For many in the IT world, this was truly heaven. Absolute, total, unchecked control.

Then in the late 1970s and early 1980s came the personal computer and the beginning of culture wars between IT, representing the Evil Empire, and users, representing peace, love and freedom. Much to the chagrin of IT departments, PCs began springing up in offices on desktops in workgroups in branch offices, and IT began losing control. Personal computing programs, such as Lotus 1-2-3 began empowering users to take control of functions that had traditionally been under the sole domain of the IT department. It was a revolution and, for IT departments, things have never been the same.

And now, 30 years later, comes along this new way of thinking about desktop computing, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, and there’s this retro idea that IT somehow can take back control of the desktop and manage corporate desktops from the data center. Pardon us if we chuckle a bit at the notion. To IT we say: “Be careful what you wish for.” To users we say: “Don’t be too worried about giving up your PCs or your freedom or your independence.” If we learned anything from the old culture wars it’s that user freedom, user power, user independence, will eventually prevail over centralized control and, at best, there will be a compromise. Once the walls came down, they came down for good and they’re not going back up.

Which, of course, is not to say VDI won’t have success. It will. It will have success for a wide range of functions: Data entry, call center reporting, hospital administration, insurance adjusting. Pick an industry and you can pick a specific application or series of applications where VDI will provide an adequate, cost-efficient solution. But there will be limits to IT’s control, even in these environments. There are too many workers who value their freedom – which in today’s world means mobility; the ability to work on the same device from home or the road or the office; the ability to have a device, whether that’s a computer, a smartphone or an iPad, from which they can do work and also check sports scores, or shop, or watch video, or communicate with friends and family through social networks.

The reality is that for these workers, VDI will be a compromise solution, and the compromise will often be right at the area where the culture wars of the past were fought: On the user’s desktop, or, more precisely, on the user’s desktop, laptop, pad, phone or any other device. The idea that everyone will be equipped with some kind of thin work client that will hold all of their work applications and will be controlled fully by the IT department flies in the face of all the evidence that we have gathered over the past 30-plus years. IT will get some more control over certain types of applications – as they did, for example, with local-area networks – but they will have to provide users with wide swaths of freedom and control even in somewhat restricted VDI environments. Otherwise, the culture wars of the past will just be replayed with the same results.

At least that’s what we think. What do you think? Is VDI taking us on a new battleground in a culture war that has already been decided? Please feel free to comment. We’ve only got a few more days doing the VDI Trender blog, so speak soon or forever hold your peace.