vir tualisation
FACILITIES desktop
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http://www.dcsuk.info/n/knxu
A data centre challenge to be faced? By Tony Lock, Programme Director Freeform Dynamics.
OVER THE DECADES data centres and computer rooms have taken on many challenges in order to deliver the services organisations need to operate effectively and efficiently. Is ‘desktop virtualisation’ the next area data centre managers will be asked to tackle?
There are several factors that are making organisations of all sizes look at their desktop estates, how they are managed along with how they need to evolve to meet rapidly changing business requirements.
Some are related to the nature of existing desktop and laptop equipment with many organisations reporting they have a considerable proportion of machines that are ageing, including significant numbers that are still running on the, now end of life, Windows XP. However, it is changing user expectations that may be the biggest factor encouraging the adoption of desktop virtualisation solutions.
There are very few organisations where there is little or no expectation amongst certain users to be able to employ an expanding portfolio of devices in their everyday work. The fact that some of the new devices are not ‘owned’ or supplied by the organisation creates new management challenges.
Many organisations recognise that one path to tackle the challenges of aging equipment and to support an increasing number of user devices is to centralise the management of desktop services and data as much as possible. In this context, the range of solutions classified as ‘desktop virtualisation’ offer considerable opportunities.
This begs the question, if desktop virtualisation solutions, which have received considerable marketing and press coverage over recent years are now readily available, what is holding up large scale adoption? Research by Freeform Dynamics [1] shows that some of the perceived challenges are,
interestingly, very similar to the solutions’ expected benefits. (Figure 1)
Reasons to consider adopting desktop virtualisation solutions including security, management and the flexibility to support mobile solutions and new user platforms are widely recognised. The ever-important element of support, something with which data centre managers are always concerned, is also seen to be a potential driver of adoption.
The chart also shows that the cost of desktop virtualisation solutions is also attracting attention, both positive and negative. The perception that ‘cost’ is the top reason not to consider desktop virtualisation is a factor that has appeared in our end user research time after time over the years.
Discussions with early adopters have indicated that the back end infrastructure required to ensure good service of desktop
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www.dcsuk.info I May 2014
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