InsightaaS: Regular readers of InsightaaS will recognize the name “Techaisle” – we often work with the California-based firm to produce research on the Canadian market, and on some of the other markets that Techaisle covers. Through our experience with the firm, we have developed enormous respect for the depth and perspective that Techaisle and its founder/president, Anurag Agrawal, bring to analysis of IT markets and trends.
Today’s featured post illustrates why we hold Techaisle in such high regard. Working from a survey of US SMBs, Agrawal introduces VDI/DaaS by talking about some of its benefits, and then drills down into data to elicit seven key characteristics of SMBs who have been successful in adopting the technology. Some of the top-level suggestions (“Prepare a roadmap of the solution and a blueprint of the implementation process,” “Create a detailed budget, be prepared for cost overruns”) might apply to any new technology, while others (“ensure that the solution supports legacy software,” “upgrade server and network infrastructure”) address specific VDI/DaaS issues. The power of the post, though, is found in the combination of the headings and descriptions. VDI/DaaS is an increasingly-important technology for SMBs (and enterprises as well). In this post, Techaisle presents a clean, fact-based checklist of items that need to be addressed to maximize the potential for successful implementations. Firms contemplating adoption or evaluating the journey to VDI/DaaS should review the post and embed its “lessons learned” into their roll-out plans.
Where is the market for client devices going — and what does it mean to corporate strategy? These are questions that Techaisle and its clients — and the industry as a whole — has been wrestling with ever since the decline of the traditional PC opened the door for alternative client technologies.
In many cases, users now combine mobile and fixed devices, and with this multi-device approach, consistency and security become even more important than they were in the laptop era. Many organizations are responding to a need to securely manage and distribute user data and applications by investigating virtual desktop (VDI) technologies enabling delivering of “desktop as a service,” or DaaS. With VDI/DaaS, businesses deploy client virtualization technologies from suppliers like Citrix and VMware to ensure that users have anywhere/any time/any device access to current information, their applications and their desktops. These technologies allow for better data security and auditability, and often offer the additional benefits of reduced CAPEX and OPEX.
The allure of VDI and DaaS is clear — but the technology itself and the path to realizing its benefits can still seem somewhat mysterious to many small and mid-sized businesses. To understand implementation challenges and lessons learned, Techaisle conducted depth interviews with small and mid-market businesses (from 50 employees to 999 employees) that are currently using VDI and/or DaaS solutions. Based on a random sampling these businesses belonged to financial services, professional services, manufacturing, construction, utilities, retail and private education segments. These early adopter SMBs have rolled out VDI and/or DaaS solutions within their organizations. The number of users using VDI and/or DaaS within the businesses interviewed ranged from a low of 30 employees for a small business to a high of 600 employees within a mid-market business.
Techaisle’s quantitative VDI/DaaS research shows that the key user objectives in adopting either on-premise or hosted VDI/DaaS solutions revolved around mobility, application availability from anywhere and on any device, disaster recovery, centralized management and administration of end-point devices at the same time reducing costs. Based on users’ real-world experiences and feedback, Techaisle has compiled a list of seven key lessons for success for small and mid-market businesses planning to adopt VDI/DaaS solutions.
1. Prepare a roadmap of the solution and a blueprint of implementation process
Before starting the implementation process and before even considering a pilot, current VDI/DaaS users advise potential users to create a roadmap of the solution and a blueprint of implementation process…
