DV Adoption – It’s all about the user experience

I was reading recently a blog entry by Bruce Hoard over at the Virtualization Review.  Titled 2010: A watershed year for VDI, the article talks about the results of a survey of some 1500 IT execs about implementing desktop virtualization.  I think many people agree that 2010 will be the proof-year for VDI (65.7% of respondents in this case), but what was interesting about this survey was the degree to which respondents were highlighting user experience as critical to the success of their VDI roll-outs.  From “factors used to evaluate success of VDI projects” (83% said end “user experience”) to “likely obstacles to full scale VDI deploy” (answer…”user resistance to giving up existing desktops”) it seems evident that regardless of the business model and technologies you are planning to use for your VDI project, compromising the user experience in any way makes those considerations moot. 

So what composes the user experience?  Well, there’s performance for one….a slower desktop is bad news.  Mobility in HVD is another…..”what do you mean I can’t take my desktop home?”, and of course a predictable and personal working experience is another. 

Making the move from physical to virtual (or mixed) environments promises to bring increased flexibility, better business planning capabilities, and higher levels of productivity (oh and maybe reduced cost?!).  So why shouldn’t it not just create a similar user experience to the PC, but a better one?  With better network protocols, accessing devices, operating systems and applications, why shouldn’t the user experience improve with virtualization? 

We see customers who have implemented our user virtualization technology providing better experiences to their users – not just the same as the PC.  For example, a consistent personal desktop experience from anywhere at any time (“you mean my work and home PCs can have the same look and feel without me doing anything?”), the ability to still have a fully personalized VDI desktop when not on the company network, even the ability to take your ‘personality’ with you across geographic, OS, accessing device and contextual boundaries without it having to be tied to one monolithic desktop.  Since with user virtualization the personality is managed independent of the desktop, the underlying ‘corporate’ OS and apps are freshly provided every time access is required, hence they are always new, clean and up-to-date – no build up of trash! Nice! 

Combining user virtualization technology with improved protocols, accessing devices, OS’s, apps and delivery mechanisms is a proven ‘best practice’ approach to ensuring that this most important of considerations is nailed from day one.  Don’t implement VDI without it!

Pete Rawlinson, VP Marketing, AppSense