5 Reasons to Deploy VDI for Better IT Management
Desktop virtualization has always been a nifty idea. But in terms of total cost of implementing and managing, those virtual desktop costs often proved prohibitive. In addition, end users were never especially enthusiastic about any approach to managing PCs that made it difficult for them to personalize their systems.
Today, VMware announced it is taking another crack at solving those issues with the release of an update to the VMware Horizon portfolio of desktop virtualization software. At the core of those updates is a Just-in-Time Management Platform (JMP) that is being extended to be able to support virtual desktop applications in real time. JMP enables 30 times faster imaging, accelerated desktop provisioning, contextual policy management and application updates. In sum, Courtney Burry, senior director of product marketing for VMware, says the JMP extension now makes it possible to configure applications and end-user personas without any service interruptions.
“It’s effectively zero down time,” says Burry.
Also on tap is support for a Blast Adaptive Transport protocol that VMware developed that makes delivering desktop services six times faster while consuming 50 percent less bandwidth, says Burry.
Finally, VMware unfurled a new cloud service option in partnership with IBM that allows virtual desktops to take advantage of graphics processing units (GPUs) from NVIDIA hosted on an IBM cloud service.
Ultimately, Burry says VMware envisions that 50 to 60 percent of all desktops will become virtual. There’s obviously a long way to go before that goal is achieved. But with each passing year, virtual desktops are becoming simpler and more cost-effective to implement. In fact, the next big challenge associated with virtual desktops may have more to do with organization inertia than the technology itself.
