Virtual desktops thrive in the cloud

“The desktop is just a place that you use to get your apps,” says Citrix channel manager Nabeel Youakim. Desktop virtualisation has redefined itself as a very cost-effective way to manage hundreds of desktops or devices. “I don’t see the need for virtual desktops going away because of cloud. In the enterprise there are a lot of apps; a bank might have 600 or 700. They have a tough time getting rid of them,” he says.

“There’s enough Windows apps in the world today that would require you to have a Windows OS in the mix for quite a long time. “Most will want to still run Windows apps, especially SMEs which have the most unstructured data in (Microsoft) Excel and Access.”

The Citrix Receiver software sits on most devices and operating systems to offer a personalised app store created by the enterprise, Youakim says. Apps are web- based or software delivered as a service and they will run in the organisation’s data centre.

And despite the attractiveness of cloud computing, most enterprises won’t ditch their PC environment. Most are preparing to move to the next versions of Windows and need to work out how they will build a next-generation desktop.

There is a boom in desktop virtualisation driven by the Windows 7 refresh and by the rise in server virtualisation championed by VMware.

Citrix’s sales are up 20 percent in Asia Pacific last quarter and in Australia “it’s more than that”, Youakim says.

Wyse, the terminal maker and advocate of desktop virtualisation, is “hiring like crazy” across Asia to meet demand, says its Asia-Pacific general manager Ward Nash.

Nash had just returned from road shows and candidate interviews in Singapore and Brisbane, and was getting on a plane to Mumbai and Hong Kong. Wyse has sold 3000 seats to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, 2000 seats to iiNet and 1000 to health insurer HCF.

Two tenders each of 100,000 seats – the Department of Defence and the Victorian Government – demand thin clients. “What we didn’t have 12 months ago was purchase orders for 1000 seats or 2000 seats,” Nash says. “People don’t throw out all their PCs and buy thin clients; they might wait for them to break and replace them gradually.”

He says VMware was the spark that ignited the virtual desktop industry and the “perfect opportunity for Wyse to make everything server based”. “The PC is not needed; for us, this whole thing is a dream come true.”

And vendor competition has raised awareness; VMware and Citrix have sales teams as does Microsoft. It is now cheaper and easier to deploy and almost matches a typical desktop PC, attractive for mid-sized companies upgrading their operating systems.

“I don’t want to just build another fat PC stack that I have to look at in eight years when Windows 9 arrives,” VMware’s Wakeman says.

“Customers are not sure what the makeup is going to be in five to 10 years time, and they’re interested in how partners can help them build a new infrastructure that is more fluid and delivered as a service.” Wakeman says it’s a bridge: “They’re using it as a way to make it more cloud-like”.

Wyse’s Nash says applications are all that is missing. “I can do my email and so on, but does everything work? The answer is no. People don’t move that fast.”