AppSense recently announced that Harry Labana became the new CTO for the user virtualization vendor.  Labana, a recognized expert in desktop virtualization, left Citrix where he was leading the company's core desktop virtualization solutions and evangelized the company's strategic vision.

Labana joins David Roussain, VP of Marketing, who moved over to AppSense last year. 

I was fortunate to recently have an opportunity to chat with him to find out more about his move from Citrix to AppSense, and to find out more about the industry in which he has become an expert.

VMblog:  If you don't mind sharing with us, I'm curious, what was the key reason you decided to make the move to AppSense, and why now?

Harry Labana:  I have developed a deep respect for the AppSense mission and believe the company has a bright future. I strongly believe that we are moving towards a world where end users are demanding a level of personalization that they have been unable to receive prior. In any desktop environment including physical, virtual or cloud-delivered, user virtualization is a key element to ensuring user satisfaction and decreasing IT management costs.

On a more personal note, joining Appsense also allows me to connect back to my roots in Manchester, where AppSense stemmed from. I haven't been back to the northwest of England since I completed my undergraduate degree and I am looking forward to the opportunity to spend more time there. Also, with AppSense's U.S. headquarters in New York City, I am also able to stay in the city with my family.

VMblog:  Citrix and AppSense have a very close relationship.  How do you think your move to AppSense will further develop this relationship?

Labana:  For the past decade, AppSense and Citrix have had a strong partnership and I view my new role as an opportunity to strengthen and expand this partnership even further. User virtualization is a key technology in the Citrix Desktop Transformation Model as it moves the focus from infrastructure to users. During my time at Citrix I was fortunate enough to see the relationship grow, and I am looking forward to playing an active role in the partnership.

VMblog:  For those who don't know what user virtualization is, can you briefly explain the technology?

Labana:  User virtualization refers to decoupling user data from the desktop's applications and operating system and managing that data independently. This allows for pooled or standardized desktops to be tailored and personalized to each and every individual user - ensuring maximum user adoption and satisfaction as well as reduced IT administration costs. With user virtualization, the user data is then applied into a desktop as needed without scripting, group policies or use of cumbersome profiles.

VMblog:  Why do you think it's becoming such a hot technology now?  For example, Goldman Sachs invested $70 million in AppSense, Microsoft and others are interested in virtualization solutions that impact end-users and management, etc.

Labana:  There has been, and will continue to be, a large increase in the mobility of the workforce. This has created the need to be able to access information from any device, creating a clear demand for user virtualization solutions to span multiple desktop delivery methods. AppSense has strong customer traction and a history of innovative solutions in desktop computing. Couple that with the record growth it has experienced over the past two years, and it is increasingly obvious that the demand for user virtualization is high and increasing each year.

Enterprises are finally beginning to understand the crucial importance of user acceptance, especially as an increasing number of new technologies are regularly being introduced to the desktop environment. The vital role that user virtualization plays in ensuring this user acceptance is has made the market what it is today and the expected $2 billion it will be in the next few years. 

VMblog:  Will user virtualization play a crucial role in the cloud and mobile industries?  If so, why?

Labana:  The short answer is yes. User virtualization will evolve to enable mobile and cloud experiences focused on providing end users with more choices, and therefore allowing for increased productivity. As cloud computing becomes more widely adopted, enterprises will need to ensure that user adoption of these new services is seamless and that users have the ability to easily share information. User virtualization is designed to provide a consistent user experience across any device, and the goal is to provide this consistent experience to applications delivered from the cloud regardless of the device being used. Organizations will need to provide users with familiar and productive working environments with full personalization, while sourcing completely standardized applications and desktops from both internal and external clouds.

The same goes for mobility. User virtualization focuses on providing users with a personal experience wherever they are and whenever they interact with their device of choice.

VMblog:  Are there any other hot technologies that you are keeping your eye on in the next few years?

Labana:  We can expect to see security begin to evolve to support new use cases created by the consumerization of IT. With the growing popularity of employees downloading their personal applications and using their own computers and mobile devices for work, IT and enterprises have less control over traditional data security. In the next few years, there will have to be some major advances in security measures.

Another shift currently underway is that of IT organizations adapting to become more like service providers. With cloud computing and desktop virtualization-and all that they enable-IT will soon find the need to emulate a service provider, not simply a system administrator. 

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Wow, that's a lot of really great information.  Thanks again to Harry Labana for taking time out of his schedule to speak with VMblog.  And we wish him the very best with his new career at AppSense.