Managing a user’s desktop persona and making it extend across multiple desktop delivery platforms is a key component in any company’s desktop strategy. User Virtualization describes a category of solutions that capture and manage the end user experience that allows a “follow me” feature of the desktop persona.
In a press release on June 29, 2011 AppSense announced that its User Virtualization Platform is now a core building block of HP’s new Client Virtualization Reference Architecture. Along with Microsoft, VMware and Citrix, AppSense User Virtualization has been recognized by HP as a crucial technology for a successful architecture that meets the goals for client virtualization.
With the HP Client Virtualization Reference Architecture, customers can achieve the goals of IT and workforce agility without compromising performance, operating costs, information security and user experience, which is AppSense’s area of focus. AppSense User Virtualization is the first complete software solution to enable seamless user management across both physical and virtual desktops. By centralizing the “Digital DNA” from each user’s desktop environment and delivering it on-demand across all desktop delivery methods, user virtualization increases user acceptance and dramatically reduces IT operations costs.
“User virtualization is a key component of HP’s Client Virtualization Reference Architecture – not only to ensure a satisfactory, personalized user experience, but also to reduce IT operation costs,” said Dan Nordhues, marketing manager, HP Client Virtualization Solutions. “HP has partnered with AppSense to leverage the clear benefits of user virtualization.”
See the full release here (http://www.appsense.com/thecompany/article.aspx?Id=274)
Big Boys embracing Virtual Desktops
We are now seeing a real adoption of virtual desktop solutions and reference architectures from the large SI’s and PC manufacturers. HP is following suit with Fujitsu, IBM and Dell whose traditional business was to build, sell and manage desktops. Desktop virtualization wasn’t a thing that these companies had focused on. Although they did have a good track record of managing desktops and keeping costs down, they were not providing what customers are wanting now. The traditional desktop model doesn’t lend itself well to agility or to dynamic workspaces: traditional desktops are all a bit 90s if we’re being honest.
Thin client device options from the PC makers have steadily increased in recent years to keep customers from looking at the traditional thin client vendors for these devices. But now they see thin clients as a critical component to keep control of endpoint.
So the big boys are now interested and we are seeing reference architectures and case studies becoming more commonplace. The move by these organizations to develop desktop virtualization solution sets could well be recognition that they are missing an opportunity in not being able to deliver desktop virtualization effectively. Historically these big boys have made
attempts to deliver services that have been too simplistic architecturally, which meant those solutions didn’t scale well and were difficult to manage. One reason for this is that they relied too heavily on their own tools. They need better tools, and these better tools include AppSense.
More Services Delivery Options
Personalizing hundreds or thousands of applications, with dozens of use cases is a very challenging hurdle that the large organizations face when implementing a User Virtualization solution. A faster time to deliver can only be accomplished by applying man-power to the tasks, which means the ability to scale up, and scale out fast is what the SI’s have the ability to do. AppSense delivers professional services today through a small, but growing internal organization combined with
certified reseller partners. Adding the larger international SI’s definitely accelerates their global services reach, but I don’t see the reseller channel being pushed out by these larger players. A typical AppSense reseller is also the Citrix, VMware and Microsoft expert bringing years of experience of implementing application and desktop virtualization alongside with the AppSense solution to the table. The cultivated skills that the reseller channel has developed are not easily taught in a classroom, so even with a large bench to throw at it, the SI’s will need to put in a significant investment of time to get their delivery teams proficient in this solution.
The acknowledgment of User Virtualization as a critical component in desktop reference architectures validates the need for customers to seriously consider the right set of tools for this layer of the desktop stack. The HP reference architecture papers can we located at http://www.hp.com/go/cv.