Let's Get Flexible

Just about a year ago, Forrester analyst David Johnson wrote about a change underway in enterprises’ considerations about adopting a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) strategy. The firm’s Q3 2012 Enterprise and SMB Hardware Survey showed that over the next 12 months, fewer companies were interested in or planning to adopt VDI/hosted desktop virtualization. But the number one reason for their even having any interest in desktop virtualization was that it was a way to support employees working from anywhere. Johnson also pointed out that Forrester’s Workforce Employee Survey showed that workers’ interest in using their own devices for business was ramping up. Between 2010 and 2012, their desire to use their own laptops and desktops grew from 21 to 36 percent. For the 2011 to 2012 timeframe, interest in using their own tablets for work grew from 33 to 48 percent, while 43 percent – up from 36 percent – wanted to do the same with their smartphones. Interest in client virtualization technology, Johnson wrote, “is no longer about cost and efficiency, it's about employee workstyle flexibility!” In the time since he wrote those words, it’s only becoming more pressing for IT to help support these user expectations. That’s not going to change anytime soon. By 2017, the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Enterprise Mobility space is expected to add up to a $181.39 billion market, with North America accounting for some $58.6 billion of it. How to do it? The hybrid cloud is increasingly providing the underpinnings that will let IT make good on expectations, by leveraging Windows desktops and applications as a cloud service under the desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) model. In fact, as DaaS grows up, some providers are putting serious thought into supporting serious user flexibility, adapting to provide full Windows Client desktops on whatever device they are using, from tablets to Chromebooks to PCs. They’re considering how to accommodate IT’s own flexibility needs, too, such as provisioning their DaaS services through their cloud providers of choice, and enabling seamless integration between on-premise and cloud-hosted virtual desktops. In what other ways do you see a maturing DaaS market serving your own -- and your users’ -- needs for a more flexible and adaptive work environment?

News Source: www.hybridcloudforum.com