The Verdict is in on Desktop Virtualization An Excerpt from the Impact Research Report www.infotech.com

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Excerpt

Table of Contents 

Part One: A New Desktop Delivery Takes Flight • • •

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Part Two: Assessing Organizational Appropriateness • • •

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Understanding Virtualization on the Desktop Desktop Virtualization Adoption The Future of Desktop Virtualization

Key Desktop Virtualization Drivers Desktop Virtualization Appropriateness Challenges of Desktop Virtualization

This Impact Research report also includes the following tools:  Desktop Virtualization

Appropriateness Assessment Tool 

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure TCO Calculator

Plus four unique desktop virtualization case studies.

Part Three: Key Implementation Considerations • • • • • •

Success in Desktop Virtualization Project Planning & Piloting Server Considerations Network & Broker Connection Access Devices Communication Strategy

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Excerpt

Table of Contents: Charts and Graphs Report Participant Profile   

Organizations by industry Organizations by FTE Planning on implementing/ implementers by FTE

Report Contents Part One

Part Three

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 3.5 Satisfaction in desktop virtualization

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1.11a Desktop Implementations Q1 2009 1.11b Projected desktop virtualization adoption 1.12 Deployment by user type

Part Two   

2.5 Reduced desktop support costs 2.6 Total hardware acquisition savings over cost of refresh 2.9 Desktop virtualization adoption

implementation  3.6 Total cost of virtual desktops is less than for traditional desktops  3.7 Desktop virtualization project success rate  3.8 Desktop virtualization implementation challenges  3.10 Important activities identified by DV implementers  3.16 Vendors evaluated and selected for desktop virtualization  3.21 Planned % of DVI deployment using thin clients  3.22 Thin client hardware vendor selection Get the complete report here:

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Excerpt

Research Methodology Deployments/Plans by Industry

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This report is based on results from 204 surveyed IT managers and in-depth interviews with 30 IT leaders.  All major industry segments, sizes of organizations, and revenue brackets were represented.  Organizations at all stages of implementation or consideration of desktop virtualization were represented.

Organizations by FTE 5000+ (13%)

Planning on Implementing & Implementers by FTE

1-100 (10%)

5000+ (13%)

101-250 (16%) 1001-5000 (28%)

1 - 100 (14%)

1001 - 5000 (22%)

Primary Industry (5%)

Wholesale/ Retail (4%)

Manufacturing (18%)

Education (6%) Government (11%)

Business Services (14%)

Trans/Utilities/ Comms (13%)

Healthcare (14%)

Financial Services (15%)

101 - 250 (17%)

251-500 (13%) 501-1000 (20%)

501 - 1000 (17%)

251 - 500 (17%)

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Excerpt: Key Definitions for Desktop Virtualization

Part One: A New Desktop Delivery Takes Flight Virtualization is all about layers of abstraction 

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A desktop computer is comprised of four system layers: Physical Machine

The processor, memory, and storage that sits on the desk.

Operating System

Typically Microsoft Windows but could also be a desktop Linux variant or the Mac OS.

Applications

Such as an e-mail client, word processor, spreadsheet, or enterprise application client (example: client side application for a CRM system).

Presentation

The user interface including what is presented on the desktop monitor and interacted with via input devices (keyboard, mouse).

Presentation Layer

Virtualization inserts a layer of abstraction between system layers. The system layer above interacts with an abstraction rather than something “real”.

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Excerpt: Key Definitions for Desktop Virtualization

Part One: A New Desktop Delivery Takes Flight Different abstractions for different kinds of virtualization Presentation Virtualization 

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In traditional remote access of server based applications, (Citrix Presentation Server, Microsoft Terminal Services) only presentation layer virtualization is used. Presentation virtualization is also used for remote access of workstation hardware such as a blade PC in the data center.

Presentation Layer

Application Virtualization 

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In application virtualization, an application can be downloaded and run locally without special configuration of either the application or the client PC or its OS. The application interacts with an abstraction layer between it and the OS and machine layers. Examples of application virtualization solutions include VMware View (ThinView), Citrix XenApp, and Microsoft App-V.

Desktop Virtualization 

Desktop Virtualization uses both a Machine Virtualization layer for hosting PC VMs on a server and presentation virtualization for remote access of those virtual machines from the desktop. Get the complete report here:

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Excerpt: Why Virtualize Desktops?

Part Two: Assessing Organizational Appropriateness Desktop virtualization can reduce desk-side support costs by as much as 40% Reduced Deskside Support Costs

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Reducing desk side support can reduce total IT spending by 5%. • Workstation management and desk side support takes up to 12% of IT expenses. • Over 40% of implementers reduced desk side support costs by as much as 16-40%.

No Savings at All 5%

High savings (16-40%) 41%

Soft Savings 27%

Midrange Savings (5-15%) 27%

Traditional Desktop Model Distributed PCs impose asset maintenance and support costs. Deployment and configuration of the hardware, as well as management of application and OS configurations and trouble shooting, typically happen at the desk side.

Virtual Desktop Model With desktop virtualization, a new desktop – and new or upgraded application stacks – can be delivered to the end user without a need to individually deploy or configure new desktop hardware at the desk side. Get the complete report here:

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Excerpt: Why Virtualize Desktops?

Part Two: Assessing Organizational Appropriateness Gain significant productivity, security and cost avoidance benefits. Defer Costs

Improve Productivity & Security

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Gain hardware independence. With desktop virtualization a new desktop – and new or upgraded application stacks – can be delivered to the end user without a need to deploy or configure new desktop hardware. Application deployment is more efficient as there is less need for multiple configurations to mitigate conflicts with variable hardware and software. Extend refresh cycles. Virtualizing the desktop can prolong the life of existing desktop hardware. New hardware deployments need not be the latest and greatest in performance and in some cases can be thin client hardware.

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Centrally deploy and manage desktop operating systems and applications. With virtualized desktop computing, applications and desktops OSs are managed in centralized processing and storage. Secure access. Application and user data remains secure behind the central firewall. This is particularly useful for user desktops accessed from remote locations.

“There are some big security gains if we can get both the applications and the desktops themselves consolidated into our data center. Being a financial institution, we like the idea of there not really being a C drive and there not really being data stored on that computer.” IT Director, Financial Services Get the complete report here:

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Excerpt: Success of Desktop Virtualization Challenges of Desktop Virtualization

Part Three: Key Implementation Considerations

Majority of stakeholders satisfied with desktop virtualization implementation 

The majority of stakeholders achieved satisfactory success with their desktop virtualization implementation.  Ideally end users should see a slight improvement in performance of their desktops or no change at all. Success in DV Implementation Total cost of DV is less than for traditional desktops IT management very satisfied with project IT operations very satisfied with project Business management very satisfied with project End users very satisfied with project

27%

50%

23%

64%

18%

68%

14% 9%

73% 64%

18% 14% 14% 14% 27%

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

“Overall I would rate the implementation successful. The most pleasing thing to me is that customers are happy. When they are happy, I am happy.” IT Director, State Government Get the complete report here:

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Server Considerations

Part Three: Key Implementation Considerations Server considerations: provision generously 1

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Server and Virtualization

Plan 5 to 6 VMs per Processor Core

Server requirements will include a virtualization hypervisor (e.g. VMware ESX, Microsoft Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer). Multicore and multiprocessor (two or more) servers are best. Plan for five or six VMs per processor core. Mileage will vary greatly depending on VM usage. Don’t skimp on memory. At least 512 MB of RAM allocated per active virtual PC. For example, 16 VMs on a host at 512 MB each would require 8 Gigabytes of memory. Storage (e.g. DAS or SAN) is also a critical consideration. However total storage impact is being mitigated by changes in DV software.

The number of VMs that will run on a server will vary greatly depending on applications and workload. VMware, for example, estimates up to 42 “light duty” VMs can be hosted on a dual processor dual core system (10.5 per core). Info-Tech finds that for planning, a more conservative estimate of 5 or 6 per core is more realistic. Using a dual processor dual core server, a 6 per core estimate yields a VM density of 24 VMs on the server. 6 VMs X 4 Cores = 24 Desktops

The majority of DV evaluators and implementers are leveraging previous experience in server virtualization for virtual desktops. Get the complete report here:

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Sample: Tool included with Report

Included Assessment Tool: Is Desktop Virtualization Right for You (Right Now)?

Based on 15 factors specific to your enterprise, we’ll help you effectively calculate whether or not VDI is appropriate for your environment… And identify the key driving factors to help you decide. This tool is included when you download the complete Impact Research report.

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Sample: Tool included with Report Included TCO Tool: Calculate the cost per desktop to compare a virtualization solution to standard deployment TCO Methodology 

Use Info-Tech’s VDI TCO tool to gain a deeper understanding of the costs involved in a virtual desktop implementation.

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Only variable needed to get an instant snapshot based on default assumptions is number of desktops being virtualized. While default assumptions are preentered, all variables can be adjusted to user environment.

Rationale

Assumptions

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Cautions

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Use the “Desktop Virtualization TCO Tool” to calculate a TCO for your organization. Included with the full report.

Screen Shot of Info-Tech’s TCO Tool:

The tool is not meant to provide definitive guidance on which VDI vendor to deploy. Assumptions are based on industry standards and will differ greatly on a case by case basis. Conservative estimates of vendors analyzed are not significantly different. Get the complete report here:

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Sample Case Study

Sample Case Study: How Our Consultants Used Virtualization to Resolve Peripheral Device Issues and Prove ROI Desktop Virtualization Status: Implemented Industry

Government

Total planned VDs

200

Employees

300

Current number of VDs

20

IT Staff

5

Revenue

$25M

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Main Drivers for VDI

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Consolidate spread out desktop infrastructure Provide high performance users (without local processing needs) with a flexible full desktop.

Vendor

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VMware VDI

Vendor Selection Criteria

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Previous experience with VMware Server virtualization

OUTCOME Top Benefits

OVERALL EXPERIENCE  

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Top Challenges

“We're very happy with the VDI environment. We have drank the VMware Kool-Aid and we're certainly on side with that product. Working with the consultant, as well as with VMware, has just been a fantastic relationship and they've done a wonderful job.”

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Centralized management. Improved performance for users.

Supporting peripheral devices was very difficult due to specialized environment. Gaining a true understanding of costs involved. ROI and TCO calculators from vendors had obvious biases.

Started with a focus on the higher performance users and piloted for 6 months to work out issues. Acknowledged high performance users with GPU processing would not be suited for initial deployment. The key success enabler for the organization was the relationship with their consultant and support from VMware. Peripheral device support issues were resolved by consultant. Consultant designed an objective ROI/TCO tool for the client to get budget approval. Get the complete report here:

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Implementing Virtual Desktops can be a Substantial Resource Saver… Is the Time Right for You? 

Based on our investigations, most IT leaders are satisfied with their deployment – but each case is unique and assessment must be taken seriously to ensure success.

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Download the complete Impact Research report to get the complete details, including the case studies, assessment and TCO tools, plus: • • •

Complete list of VDI challenges Proof of how much you can save 17+ charts and graphs outlining common deployment issues, successes and stats

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