virtual desktop computing _white paper - by david roth

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AN ASG WHITE PAPER

BY DAVID ROTH, DIRECTOR OF CLOUD PRODUCT MARKETING

VIRTUAL DESKTOP COMPUTING:VDI, DAAS, AND BEYOND

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VIRTUAL DESKTOP COMPUTING: VDI, DAAS, AND BEYOND

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary ............................................................ 3

Virtual Desktop Computing ................................................. 4

Deployment of Virtual Desktops ......................................... 6

Comparing Daas and On-premises VDI ............................... 7-8

The Next Big Innovator in Virtual Desktop Computing ........9


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYEverything published in terms of the rapid adoption of cloud services assumes that the benefits are obvious and the ideal solution to migrate to is clear. But with so many players in the cloud market offering different products and managed service features and benefits, there’s no “one” blanket solution that a company should adopt. Plus, when referring to such a rapidly-innovating industry where each provider is doing their best to differentiate themselves, it’s a challenge to get all marketers on the same page regarding terminology and comparison standards. Although, creating such clarity would help with market education and allow for faster decision-making.

This type of market confusion doesn’t only exist on a macro level, but also when trying to compare service types that you’d think would be apples-to-apples, like VDI and DaaS. Even though they are two different models for deploying essentially the same thing —virtual desktop computing—a comparison doesn’t create a blanket solution to be adopted by all. You still have to weigh your business needs and goals, along with your existing technology investments, when trying to decide to adopt one or the other, or neither, for that matter.

In this whitepaper I outline key benefits of virtual desktop computing, then simplify the definitions of the two deployment models, including business drivers for adopting each. There’s also a side-by-side chart included that compares the different technologies and business needs that each deployment model suffices. Then, since innovation never rests, I’ve included some insights on where some software vendors have expanded upon the value of virtual desktop computing to deliver even more productivity and efficiency-enhancing solutions.

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VIRTUAL DESKTOP COMPUTINGVirtual desktop computing (whether VDI or DaaS deployed) essentially takes the “desktop” out of the local office and puts it in the cloud. This includes your applications and data; everything that you’d normally do on your local desktop is now run in the cloud (within a datacenter) and served to your endpoint device via the Internet.

Virtual desktop computing allows network administrators to centrally manage each employee’s virtual client machines, allowing greater options in managing, deploying, and securing applications and data network-wide. For the end user, a virtual desktop experience allows for “anytime/anywhere” access to a familiar computing experience. Instead of the user’s data being stored on their individual device, it’s stored on secure, managed servers in the cloud. Therefore, with a simple, proprietary login the end-user has access to the same information and user experience from any device, with the reassurance that their data is securely backed up in the cloud.

Anytime/Anywhere Access to Vital Business Tools and Data

Anytime/anywhere access to your data from a consistent user-experience is more than just industry-speak. Aside from data security, anytime/anywhere access results in a real translatable business benefit. Benefits such as real-time access to the same “synched” information on any device including desktops, laptops, tablets, smart phones, and/or public computers. Employees use their proprietary login to view the same familiar desktop user-experience on any device. This gives them access to all their vital business tools such as their email account complete with received, sent, filed, archived emails, plus any task lists, etc., as if they were on their main PC (i.e. Microsoft Outlook client). It will also give them anytime/anywhere access to their approved business applications, folders and files they’ve saved and/or archived. Since the user’s profile, including their applications and data, are saved on the secure servers in the cloud, they’re accessible from any desired device.

Efficient, Centralized Management by Network Administrators

Central management of employees’ virtual desktops provides for efficient and effective monitoring and management of performance and device functionality. Instead of physically traveling to each individual machine, or asking your staff to break away from their core responsibilities to perform application and security updates, IT is able to update one “base” image which automatically updates all client machines within the organization.

This not only saves time, allowing your technical resources to focus on more business strategic efforts, but it also helps avoid hardware and software inconsistencies, greatly diminishes human error, and ensures greater data security.

Enhanced Data Security

Even though saving time means saving money, the enhanced data security inherent with virtual desktop computing is arguably its biggest benefit. By hosting the end-users’ desktop image (the end-users’ applications and data) in a data center, instead of on the actual device, businesses are able to protect the end-user from jeopardizing sensitive business data. In the event of a lost, stolen, or destroyed device, no data is lost or compromised since it isn’t saved on the actual device, but instead remains backed up in a secure data center where it can be accessed from a different device via a secure user-specific login.


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Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Functionality

Employees will still need a physical device to access their virtual desktop, but they can now use their device(s) of preference for their required daily functions while working from home or office, presenting to clients, or staying current on emails or industry news while on the go. Because the user’s data isn’t stored on the actual device and it doesn’t need to do any processing, it doesn’t need to abide by any special technical requirements.

Some organizations choose to supply less expensive devices called “thin clients” that last longer than traditional computers, or they allow employees to use their own device/s of choice, including tablets and smart phones. Since all of the computing and processing is done in the cloud all you need is a device that functions well enough to run the connection software and has adequate endpoint protection (i.e. firewall, anti-virus, etc.). Since only a picture of the desktop and keyboard/mouse strokes are being transferred, the device will just need an Internet connection. Removing the compute and processing functions from the end-point device results in less individual device maintenance (conserving IT’s time and avoiding end-user downtime) and extends the life of the actual end-point device being used (lower capex of replacing laptops).

The cost of maintaining PCs more than three years old is between $326 USD and $401 USD per PC.

-from a global survey conducted by Techaisle on cost of maintaining PCs

conducted across small, medium and large businesses spanning eight countries including the US, UK, Italy,

Brazil, India, China and Australia.

BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL DESKTOP COMPUTING

Enhanced End-User Experience

� Anytime/anywhere end-user access to the same, synched information from any device—desktop, laptop, tablet, smart phone—via individual employee logins

� Enable end-users to use their own preferred devices with the same, superior computing experience

Improved Data Security

� Reassurance that your data is secure, and isn’t susceptible to being lost or compromised as it would if it were stored on employee’s individual devices

Reduced desktop management complexity

� Efficient management of virtual desktops – set up new desktops in minutes instead of hours, quick deployment of new software or virus fixes.

� Eliminate need for data migration when repairing or swapping hardware and/or user devices

Reduced technology costs

� Efficient application deployment and fewer end-user tech support calls

� Supply less expensive and more efficient thin clients

� Decreased personnel costs with less labor-intensive management and maintenance

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DEPLOYMENT OF VIRTUAL DESKTOPSThere are multiple deployment models for delivering virtual desktops, but in the simplest of terms virtual desktops can either be deployed in an on-premises data center or in the cloud. Though the end-user experience is essentially the same, the means in which the environment is hosted and managed is very different, and requires very different personnel and monetary investments. The key difference between the deployment models is where the data is hosted and who manages the environment in which the virtual desktops run and are maintained.

On-Premises Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

The practice of hosting virtual desktops within a virtual machine (VM) running on an organization’s own centralized server, and typically housed within a data center maintained and managed by the organization’s own engineers, is referred to as Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). In a VDI implementation the desktop images are accessed over a network using a remote desktop protocol. A connection-brokering service is used to connect users to their designated desktop session. VDI refers to the software, hardware, and other resources required for the virtualization of the desktop system.

VDI gave way to the original virtual desktop deployment in 2005. Since then, the practice of deploying virtual desktops has been further perfected and enhanced with a variety of additional deployment models, such as Cloud-Hosted Virtual Desktops or Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS).

Hosted Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS)

The DaaS deployment model differs from an on-premises VDI model in that the virtual desktops are hosted and delivered by a Cloud Service Provider (CSP or SP) that manages and maintains the customer’s virtualized environment hosted and backed up in the SP’s data centers. Since the virtual desktops are delivered via a hosted cloud model, DaaS takes infrastructure management duties out of IT’s responsibilities. By taking advantage of an existing infrastructure where an SP maintains the compute, load balancing, storage infrastructure, applications and application software licenses, a customer can expect a higher level of automation and a lower up-front investment. Service Providers typically offer Service Level Agreements (SLAs) outlining high availability, redundancy, optimized power, and other features like remote replication for data protection. DaaS deployments can be provided through a public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud platform, depending on the customer’s business requirements.

Hosted desktops make sense if your organization already relies on Web-based applications, or if your organization has security issues with shadow IT (employees using non-compliant web applications to save company data). Business users benefit from a DaaS deployment because they typically have quicker onboarding or access to newly requested applications. Since desktop management is off-loaded to the SP, other IT maintenance or more strategic technology requests typically have a quicker response time from the organization’s IT team.


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Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) On-premises VDI

Deployment Complexity Centralized management consoles provide for customized control and simple setup and deployment. Service Provider manages and maintains infrastructure.

Complex, labor-intensive infrastructure setup of data center servers and virtual servers requiring specialized expertise.

Setup Investment Architecture and the service is purchased on a subscription basis, requiring no upfront infrastructure investment.

Can be cost-prohibitive in terms of budget and staffing due to high upfront capital investment and maintenance.

Ongoing Costs Monthly subscription cost per user and applications used.

No infrastructure management or maintenance costs since the SP handles all the back-end infrastructure costs including data storage, upgrades, security and backup.

End-user cost of maintaining each endpoint device is reduced since processing is off-loaded to the SP’s server environment.

Consolidation and reduced upgrade cycles minimizes hardware costs for server and client side equipment, although ongoing infrastructure maintenance costs are much greater than DaaS.

Endpoint device maintenance is also reduced, much like it is with DaaS.

Data Security Remote replication for protecting data. No data is stored on the actual device used.

Data is replicated in the data center. Also, keeping data within the confines of the organization’s own data center improves security.

Ease of Maintenance SP manages patching and application installation or streaming, therefore off-loading any load to the organization’s network and IT admin team.

Infrastructure maintenance (e.g. load balancing and network issues) is also taken care of by the SP.

Perform centralized patching and application installation or streaming minimizing load to the organization’s network. However, the organization’s IT personnel are still responsible for performing maintenance.

Mobile Workforce End-users can access their desktops from any location or device with an Internet connection.

End-users can access their desktops from any location or device with an Internet connection.

Device support Any operating system or device with an Internet connection is supported.

Any operating system or device with an Internet connection is supported.

Comparing DaaS and On-premises VDI

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Comparing DaaS and On-premises VDI

Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) On-premises VDI

Business Continuity Provider can quickly spin up desktops to users on any device, providing for a more flexible environment than VDI.

Also provides flexibility and agility for a business environment, but is dependent on internal IT team’s availability and response time.

Latency Desktops are delivered over a remote connection, so some latency is possible.

Network concerns of DaaS are often unwarranted, because cloud-hosted desktops are connected to the corporate environment through a private connection.

VDI deployments are behind an organization’s firewall which in general can cause some latency issues. However, connectivity primarily depends on the organization’s bandwidth.

Resource Pooling Server based computing improves a company’s ability to use resources as a common pool. SP manages the infrastructure allowing maximum scaling at peak times.

Server-based computing improves a company’s ability to use resources as a common pool. The data center infrastructure and hardware is procured and managed by the organization’s IT team.

Admin Control and Visibility

If customer desires to manage the environment (e.g. deploy new user desktop instances on their own), depending on the provider’s product capabilities end-user management and reporting is possible via a centralized management console. Otherwise these duties can also be off-loaded to the SP.

Admin has full control and management responsibilities. Depending on tools selected end-user management is possible with varying degrees of difficulty.

Software Licensing Software licenses are provisioned and paid for on a monthly basis either federated through the SP, or provisioned directly from the software vendor.

Software licenses are purchased by user and managed by the IT team.

Provisioning of additional strategic technology needs

SPs typically offer other value-added hosting services in addition to DaaS (e.g. backup, dev/test environs, VoIP, a portfolio of popular business applications) that customers can easily provision or de-provision for a predictable monthly cost.

Additional infrastructure or application needs require re-allocation of personnel resources and CapEx/OpEx, which requires management approval. This extends the time to deploy while the business unit waits.


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With ASG CloudFactory, technology teams now not only have the ability to deploy and manage virtual desktop workspaces, but they can also provision and manage public and private cloud virtual servers, storage, and compute cycles – all from one centralized management console.

THE NEXT BIG INNOVATOR IN VIRTUAL DESKTOP COMPUTINGEven with all the benefits and accolades that virtual desktop computing receives, no matter if deployed on-premises or within an SP’s cloud, innovation never stops! Within the last year, select providers have enhanced the end-user experience and technology management features of their DaaS offerings so much so that another re-categorization of the traditional virtual desktop solution is required - a next-generation solution, if you will.

Where traditional VDI and DaaS deployments leave off with their centrally-managed Windows operating systems, Virtual Workspaces take off. Virtual Workspaces include, but go far beyond, the traditional benefits of DaaS: end-user access to apps/data from anywhere with any device, data loss protection, and cost-effective, centralized management by IT.

Driven by the need to expedite market adoption, software development vendors have reengineered the UI/UX of their Virtual Workspaces, or WebTops, to be more closely aligned with the traditional desktop experience already familiar to the average business worker. This evolution greatly decreases the already relatively flat learning curve required for end-users to start utilizing the additional productivity features available in Virtual Workspaces. Some enhanced functionalities also offer user customization of the view and tools used on their workspace view.

Advanced Virtual Workspaces offer the end-user an e-commerce type of online store to provision applications that their IT team has made available to them. The user simply selects the required application and it is then deployed into their Workspace in an automated fashion without involving IT. This automation relieves IT of excess installation work cycles and ensures that the business has quick and easy access to applications that IT has deemed secure and compliant. If a required application isn’t currently available within the organization’s application store, the best workspace software solutions have a streamlined process for provisioning and deploying most all applications in an expedited manner.

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Perhaps the most impressive enhancement driving the requirement for an entirely new classification of virtual workspaces is the provisioning workflows and the integration of the infrastructure stack within the back-end IT management console. IT now not only has the ability to configure, deploy and manage virtual desktop instances from one centralized management console, but they can also provision and manage flexible public or private cloud infrastructure services (virtual servers, storage, and compute cycles) from the single console as well.

Such an end-to-end solution is currently only available from ASG Software Solutions. ASG CloudFactory and its cutting edge IaaS and SaaS management tools, ASG-CloudRobot and ASG-CloudShaper, combined with its one-of-a-kind virtual workspace, ASG-CloudCockpit, integrates seamlessly with existing public or private cloud infrastructure deployments. This allows organizations continued leverage of their existing IT investments, rather than requiring a rip-and-replace. ASG CloudFactory’s automated workflows and ITIL compliance provide a secure and efficient technology environment where end-users have quick access to the tools they need, and IT has the control and oversight they need. Unlike Citrix, VMware, and Microsoft technologies, ASG CloudFactory addresses today’s three key IT needs – Application Delivery, Self-Service Provisioning and Automated Deployments and Management of all Data Center Resources – in one integrated solution.

ASG also allows for flexible integration points and deployment models with its ASG CloudFactory solution. Customers can host their employee’s workspaces and the company’s application CloudStore within their own data center that they manage, or they can choose to purchase the managed services from one of ASG’s selection of Service Provider partners who host, monitor and manage the environment for the end-customer.


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ABOUT ASGASG Software Solutions connects sophistication and experience with agility and technological efficiency through its vendor-agnostic cloud, content and systems solutions. ASG helps companies solve today’s most pressing business issues including reducing operating costs, enhancing workforce productivity, and ensuring regulatory compliance. More than 70 percent of global Fortune 500 companies trust ASG to optimize their existing IT investments. Founded in 1986, ASG is a global company headquartered in Naples, Florida, USA.

ASG Software Solutions - Worldwide Headquarters

708 Goodlette Road North Naples, Florida USA 34102

Tel: + 1 239 435 2200 | +1 800 932 5536

© 2015 Allen Systems Group, Inc.

All products mentioned are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

www.asg.com

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virtual desktop computing _white paper - by david roth

Technology

virtual desktop experience

local desktop

o u dvirtual desktop

familiar computing experience

deployment of virtual

premises vdi

comparing daas

cloud market