Desktop virtualisation is beginning to take hold in the financial services and public sectors, particularly in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.
This is according to David Angwin, Wyse Technology director of marketing for EMEA, who says that not only does desktop virtualisation remove complexity; it also improves user experience by speeding up the time applications are run.
“The African market is very ready for desktop virtualisation, especially [as] it's a transitional technology towards cloud computing and we are seeing a rapid adoption of cloud computing in this market. In five to 10 years' time, everybody will be using a Web application delivered via the cloud.”
Angwin explains that desktop virtualisation also uses less electricity to run and therefore reduces an organisation's carbon emissions and impact on the environment.
He notes: “Our thin clients or zero devices typically use between three and five watts, and a desktop PC would use between 70 and 100 watts. This results [in a] more than 70% reduction in power. Energy consumption is always a question that gets asked by business, and we are now seeing a bigger focus on energy reduction.”
Angwin says zero clients will never replace the desktop PC, but will enable IT to improve skills development as IT staff will be freed from doing constant maintenance and can focus on IT specialisation and innovation.
Analysts such as Gartner and IDC estimate that up to 70% of IT budgets are spent on IT maintenance and support, while only 30% is spent on innovation. Virtual desktop infrastructure means IT support can be handled remotely and doesn't need replacing with a software upgrade.
Around 46 out of 100 JSE-listed local corporations have adopted some form of cloud computing, either as a product or a service, according to the IP Expo Corporate Cloud Survey 2011.
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