The Virtual Desktop Revolution

© Copyright 2008. Yankee Group Research, Inc. All rights reserved. www.yankeegroup.com

The Virtual Desktop Revolution

Phil HochmuthSenior Analyst, Enterprise Research

Zeus KerravalaSenior VP, Enterprise Research

© Copyright 2009. Yankee Group Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

October 27, 2009www.yankeegroup.com

© Copyright 2009. Yankee Group Research, Inc. All rights reserved. October 2009The Virtual Desktop Revolution

Agenda

• Evolution of Enterprise Computing

• Virtual Desktop Infrastructure: What It Is and What It Isn't

• Today’s Workforce Demands and VDI Trends

• Current VDI Deployments and Future Directions

• Conclusions and Recommendations


Evolution of Enterprise Computing


Would you like to be able to use your personal laptop or desktop at work?

Poll 1


Agenda







Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI): What it is

Hypervisor

PC1 PC2 PC3

PC1 PC2 PC3

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI): the Yankee Group definition

• Endpoint operating systems and data, hosted as virtual machines on a centralized server, or servers, and delivered to endpoints over a TCP/IP network


VDI: What it isn’t


Why is VDI different? Because expectations are different

End-users expect the same PC computing experience they’ve always known from work and home

• PCs are mainstream in homes and offices―Employees used to full-featured PCs will be

unwilling to take a step back in functionality and features

• Employees increasingly use video, multimedia and collaboration applications, which require real-time and latency-resilient performance

• Rightly or wrongly, end-users increasingly have a sense of “ownership” over their work PCs―Personalized settings: wallpapers, music,

bookmarks and shortcuts―Personal and consumer-based applications on

PCs are commonplace


Agenda







Mobile, flexible computing options drive user productivity

The following statements refer to productivity and the ability to get your job done. Please rate on a scale of 1 to 10 your agreement with each statement. (n=1643)

26%

25%

22%

7%

13%

18%

16%

11%

22%

26%

25%

21%

40%

32%

37%

61%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Allowing employees to work fromhome benefits companies

My personal technology is moreadvanced than my workplace

technology

I would be/am more productiveif/when I had/have access to

apps and technologies I use inmy personal life

I can accomplish my work tasksfrom anywhere given my

technology resources

Percent of respondents

Low (1,2,3) Low-Medium (4,5) High-Medium (6,7) High (8,9,10)

Working from home and from technology such as personal laptops, PCs and software makes workers feel more productive


Without IT’s help, workers will figure it out for themselves

A familiar scenario that can drive network security teams crazy if done outside of IT’s purview

GoToMyPCRealVNCLogMeIn

Microsoft XP Remote DesktopHome PC Work PC

Internet


If workers can’t get to their desktops, they’ll bring their data wherever they want to work – somehow


Virtual desktop momentum: what a difference a year makes

Has your organization deployed or does it plan to deploy desktop virtualization? (Please select one.)

(n=243)

Desktop virtualization deployments are widespread

• Over two-thirds of enterprises have some level of adoption

• Another 25% plan to adopt the technology over the next 12-24 months―Verticals leading the way

include financial services, healthcare

• Task workers and desk-bound office users are still primary deployment scenarios for VDI

• Strong correlation between server virtualization users and VDI users

» Major VDI platforms, VMware, Citrix include underlying components of server virtualization as part of the solution


Desktop virtualization: percent of desktops virtualized

What percent of your total user desktops are currently virtualized? And what do you expect this percentage to be in 12 months, and 24 months?

14%

5%

4%

42%

61%

67%

26%

21%

17%

20%

13%

12%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Percent of desktopsexpected to be

virtualized in 13-24months (n=200)

Percent of desktopsexpected to bevirtualized in 12months (n=185)

Percent of desktopscurrently virtualized

(n=155)

1-30% 31-60% 61-90% 91-100%

Base: Asked to those who have deployed or are planning to deploy desktop virtualization within 24 months

VDI deployments are wide, but shallow• While more than two-thirds of the enterprises that say they have VDI, none of

the organizations have more than a third of their total desktops virtualized• Most deployments are very limited

―Departmental roll-outs―Specific end-user scenarios (task worker, call

center, etc.)• Overall, VDI is not yet viewed as a viable

replacement to standard endpoint PCs


Desktop virtualization: motivations for deployment

Base: Asked to those who have deployed or are planning to deploy desktop virtualization

Aspirational and innovative drivers for VDI are not resonating with enterprises

• Management cost and complexity reductions are what appeal to enterprises

Enterprise consumerization does not drive VDI

• Bring-your-own-PC is a popular idea associated with VDI, but it’s not what’s driving deployments in enterprises

(n=218)


Have you ever lost your laptop or had it stolen?

Poll 2


Desktop virtualization: barriers to deployment

Top barriers are both experiential and perceived

• Bad user experience from previous pilots, deployments, product solution demonstrations

• Unquantifiable savings or benefits regarding:―Security―Management―Cost savings

(n=243)


Agenda

• Evolution of Enterprise Computin






Virtual desktop worker scenarios

What kind of worker is right for a virtual desktop?• Task worker

• Call center, data entry, clerical• Information worker

• User of basic office productivity tools• Power information worker

• Graphic designer, CAD/engineering, stock trader, database analyst• Mobile information worker

• Salesperson, executive, consultant


Current virtual desktop deployment heat map

Warm

Lukewarm

Cool

Where the technology is taking off, where it’s not, and why

Hot

Task worker• Work with a limited

set of applications, data

• Uniform PC configurations that should not change

• Limited autonomy over device preferences

Information worker• Basic application set requirements• Stationary/non-mobile

Power information worker• Information security benefits• Difficult to support high-end

graphics or real-time and latency-sensitive applications

Mobile information worker• No support yet for “offline”

working• Scattered, mobile workforce

is hard to train


Virtual desktop deployments today

Hypervisor

PC1 PC2 PC3

PC1 PC2 PC3


Hypervisor

PC1 PC2 PC3

VDI in the not-so-distant future

Mobile wireless

users

TeleworkerRemote/Branch

OfficePC1

PC3

WAN/Internet

PC2


Future developments

“Mobile” virtual desktops• “Check-out” ability for network-based

virtual machines―Solves the “airplane problem”―Will spark greater “BYOD” adoption Work OS Personal OS

Per

son

al

App

s

Client-side hypervisor

Per

son

al

Dat

a

Wor

k A

pps

Wor

k D

ata

Work OS

Per

sona

l A

pps

Per

sona

l D

ata

Work OS

Per

sona

l A

pps

Per

sona

l D

ata


Mobile device virtualization

Devices can be used to access corporate work environments• Replicating PC GUI on smartphones is not optimal

― Instead, a modified work experience, delivering applications, data and other enterprise IT services


What an Anywhere Desktop Architecture will look like

This can be narrowed down to several attributes, some of which are in various stages of availability today, while others are not:

• A centrally controlled and hosted master operating system image capable of being patched, maintained and updated once, but replicated widely across the enterprise

• Protocols for efficiently delivering not only video and I/O to end-users, but also rich media (streaming audio/video) and support for peripherals (i.e., USB devices)

• Separation of hosted end-user identity, data and personalized settings from the virtualized “master image,” enabling employees to continue the same data-access and operating environment experience regardless of what changes are made to the virtualized master image

• The ability to maintain a persistent endpoint computing experience, regardless of what network end-users are attached to

• Identity, access control and data security policies that follow employees as they access virtual desktops from any location and any device

• The ability to extend delivery of applications and operating environments to devices beyond PCs and laptops (i.e., PDAs, smartphones, netbooks)


Agenda







Conclusions: VDI will drive greater IT efficiency and end-user productivity

IT can move away from purchasing/maintaining client devices• Workers buy their own laptop/client device• IT leverages application virtualization and desktop virtualization to

deploy the work environment• Work environment is encapsulated in a VM and accessed over a

secure network• Benefits:

―IT can centrally manage and secure―Malware can’t propagate―Fewer IT resources required to manage―Users have freedom to buy any client

• Challenges:―VDI protocols can run poorly over the WAN―Highly bandwidth-intensive―Multimedia optimization required ―Creates a lack of visibility into the network ―Quality of service is hard to maintain


Recommendations for enterprise IT leadership

• Break from traditional thinking about where VDI fits into an enterprise. • VDI should not be thought of as a solution to a specific IT problem. It is a potentially

transformative technology that can make every employee in an enterprise more productive, versatile, secure and manageable.

• Prepare for another major IT management/workforce integration. • The advent of UC forced telecom departments to roll up IP network service groups.

Similarly, network operations and applications developers have converged to support service-oriented architecture (SOA) and network-optimized Web apps. Expect this to happen between desktop support staff and the network group.

• Include desktop virtualization as part of an enterprise-cloud architecture. • Virtualization, SaaS and cloud computing are reshaping IT, but the point is missed if all

this infrastructure is built just to support the same old PC architecture that has been in place for the last two decades. As enterprises move applications to “internal clouds,” endpoint operating system and locally stored (and company-owned) end-user data should move skyward as well.

• Identify your desktop security challenges and look for ways VDI might help. • Look for specific problems and issues VDI can solve. VDI can ease the problem of

inconsistent (and possibly vulnerable) versions of client applications and OSs across the enterprise. The platform is potentially also a good solution for giving secure remote access to external groups, such as contractors, outsourcers or partners.


Q&A

Did you know? Despite the economic downfall, 50 percent of large enterprises have not shifted their plans for VDI implementation over the next 12 to 24 months.

Yankee Group’s Attitude & Behavior Surveys track this data and more. Sign up for a complimentary snapshot of our most recent results at

http://www.yankeegroup.com/live/survey_data_snapshot.html

For the following technology areas that you have implemented or plan to implement in the next 12-24 months, how is the economy impacting your investment decisions? (Please select one per row.)

50%

41%

43%

49%

41%

36%

36%

30%

36%

34%

22%

38%

33%

38%

14%

13%

13%

17%

12%

16%

13%

4%

9%

8%

7%

7%

10%

8%

2%

1%

2%

5%

3%

5%

5%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

Mobile applications (n=435)

Cloud computing/SaaS (n=408)

Enterprise infrastructure (WAN optimization,application delivery) (n=556)

Network/enterprise security (n=122)

M2M (n=242)

Unified Communications (n=375)

Desktop virtualization (n=214)

Percent of respondents

No impact Some reductions Some increase Severe reductions Unsure/Do not know

© Copyright 2008. Yankee Group Research, Inc. All rights reserved. www.yankeegroup.com

Phil Hochmuth, Senior Analyst, [email protected] Kerravala, Senior VP, [email protected]

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The Virtual Desktop Revolution

Technology

Transcript of The Virtual Desktop Revolution