The Gartner Group estimates there
will be 30 million virtual desktops
by 2010. This development, coupled with the advent of Microsoft’s new Vista
operating system, are raising questions
about updating systems. How hard is it
to upgrade? How long will it take? What
will it cost? Will my present applications
run on the new system? Are the new features worth the cost and effort?
“With desktop virtualization it can be a
simple, quick process to make changes
in any part of your computer system,”
says Omar Yakar, CEO of Agile 360.
“Without desktop virtualization, each PC
must be worked on individually or complex and inconsistent distribution tools
must be used. The downloading and
setup takes time. Another advantage of
desktop virtualization is the immediacy
of disaster recovery and the ability for
employees to work from anywhere.”
Smart Business asked Yakar for more
insight on desktop virtualization.
Exactly what is desktop virtualization?
We are coming full circle from the days
of the mainframe. Back then, there was a
finite set of applications and user interface drawn to a green screen terminal,
there were high fixed costs and change
took forever. This drove business units
needing more agility to the first PCs, and
the revolution was born.
One side effect, however, is that we
moved a secure and controlled infrastructure to the equivalent of the Wild
West, and cost and security risks of managing individual user environments skyrocketed along with the productivity
gains.
Essentially, desktop virtualization is
moving information each employee
needs to function in their job from individual personal computers at each desk
to their own virtualized desktop file on a
central server (traveling users can also
run this on a laptop or disconnected
workstation). IT becomes like the cable
company, where each user has a cable
box and remote. Each user gets his or
her own desktop, but it’s all managed from the security of a data center. Office
moves are simplified because all cable
boxes and remote controls are the same;
anywhere you go, you still get your own
desktop environment.
How do you go about setting up this virtualization?
Picture four components of a desktop
computer. First is the hardware. Second
is the operating system (for instance,
Microsoft XP or Vista). Third is the combination of applications (Microsoft
Office, etc.). Fourth are the settings that
make the computer your own PC. This
could include the background with the
family ski vacation, the configuration of
icons that work best for you and how
you want your system to open.
Now decouple these four and picture
them in individual boxes. Any one box
can be replaced without affecting the
others — meaning I could change the
operating system box without any affect
on the hardware, applications or personal settings.
The next time an organization
upgrades even some of its PCs or operating system, a centralized environment
is built. The desktop hardware is converted into the equivalent of a cable box,
and the monitor, mouse and keyboard
become the remote. From this point forward, the operating costs start a downward slide, while employees still experience their own desktop environment.
Are there other advantages to desktop virtualization?
The big one occurs if there is a need for
disaster recovery. You don’t have individual pieces of data stored on a variety
of desktops around the offices.
Everything is on your company servers
and, of course, a copy runs at your disaster recovery site. Because the two are
running in tandem, the data added by
and needed by any individual is always
there and accessible at the data recovery
site if something happens to the accessibility of the main company server.
Another advantage is a physical change
of location within the office, where
everyone has an identical ‘remote.’
There is no longer a need to move the
users’ PC. Laptop users that need to
work disconnected can still run local
copies of a centralized desktop that
updates once plugged back in.
As an executive, how can I look at this and
see how I’m going to save money?
Centrally managed desktops bring us
back to the security and lower cost
model of the mainframe while still
allowing individual desktop environments. Your systems can be upgraded in
minutes or seconds, so something new
that can be used to take advantage of a
business opportunity can be added
immediately.
If disaster recovery is needed, there is
always a copy standing by. The best
news of all is that — if it is done properly — it can cut in half the real cost of
delivering information to end-users.
OMAR YAKAR is CEO of Agile360 in Irvine. Reach him at (949)
253-4106 or [email protected].