iPad drives desktop virtualisation

Strong sales have spurred tablet growth and the mobility market generally, states eChannel Line.

But it has also had a significant impact in driving the desktop virtualisation market, much to the delight of Citrix and its channel partners, the report states. Citrix recently conducted a survey of its own customers which elicited 4 951 responses, and showed a significant number (46%) depend on the iPad and use it daily - a significant number given that it has only been on the market for seven months.

The survey also found that 62% of respondents planned to purchase and use an iPad for business.

According to a release, the report finds that 90% of medium and large businesses are considering or implementing at least one form of client virtualisation, says TMC Net.

Driven by the promise of reduced costs and improved operation efficiency, 91% of that group plan to implement a client virtualisation solution within the next 12 to 24 months.

This is despite the potential for bumps in the road, as almost all respondents (97%) say they have faced challenges, although many of them are not related to the technology itself, including getting management behind the initiative, training end-users and ensuring the technology will work on an individual level.

Virtualisation looks set to enjoy a continuing wave of adoptions in the upcoming year, and commentators have said the technology's popularity is largely due to its reputation for being cost-effective, which falls directly in line with many corporate IT spending strategies, reports Rackspace.

New technologies transforming traditional IT systems have been described by experts as 'disruptive' - but in a positive way, according to the report.

"The business needs disruption, and the disruptive technologies exist to really change our financial model and our cost structure in a way that for once, is actually consistent with what the business wants - which is more wood behind the arrow and less wood focused on operations," according to Mark McDonald, group vice-president for executive programmes at Gartner.