Desktone, Inc., provider of the first platform that enables hosted virtual desktops as an outsourced subscription service, today announced that it has secured registered marks for the terms “desktops as a service”® and “DaaS”®. Desktops as a service (DaaS) specifically describes an outsourced subscription service for server-hosted desktops powered by the Desktone Virtual-D Platform™ and delivered by Desktone-certified service provider partners.
“My experience, based on having held executive positions at brand leaders such as Staples, Office Depot and Schwab, is that securing trademarks is critical to effectively communicating your value to the broader market,” says Paul Gaffney, COO at Desktone. “There is a tremendous amount of momentum behind DaaS and the industry is beginning to adopt our terms. While we’re thrilled with how this validates our strategy, we want to make sure that people clearly understand what DaaS means and the unique value of Desktone-powered DaaS solutions.”
“Desktone pioneered desktops as a service, from the technology perspective as well as the business model,” says Rachel Chalmers, Research Director, Infrastructure Computing for the Enterprise (ICE) at the 451 Group. “With increasing interest in both desktop virtualization and cloud computing, the market is ripe for an approach that marries the two technologies. By delivering cloud-hosted virtual desktops, DaaS meets this need.”
Securing the registered trademarks helps Desktone service provider partners convey that they are offering authentic DaaS solutions, and gives enterprise customers the confidence that they are consuming a proven, reliable and cost-effective DaaS offering. It is also helping to foster an ecosystem for DaaS technology partners, such as NetApp, Wyse Technology and Liquidware Labs, whose solutions integrate with and complement Desktone-powered services.
“As a developer of advanced assessment software for hosted virtual desktop and VDI solutions, we see how important the DaaS market is becoming,” says Tyler Rohrer, founder and COO of Liquidware Labs, formerly vmSight. “Our Stratusphere™ solution helps assure service levels, end user experience and security with metrics previously unavailable, and answers the question, ‘How are we doing with our VDI solution?’ We felt it was critical that our solutions are DaaS-certified so that service providers and enterprises who want to benefit from the high level of visibility and control we provide can be confident our solutions work seamlessly in DaaS environments.”
DaaS Defined
While the combination of hypervisor and remoting technologies make it possible to transform a PC into a network-delivered service, simply enabling PCs as an internally provisioned network service is not enough. In order for enterprises to effectively harness the power of VDI, they must be able to outsource the hosting of their virtual desktops to a service provider. Only in this way—through DaaS—will they be able to achieve both their operational and economic goals.
Desktone-powered DaaS enables hosted virtual desktops to be delivered as a truly outsourced, subscription offering. It is a model that in many ways mimics SaaS, where software is outsourced to providers who offer applications on-demand as a subscription service. Just as the definition of SaaS has become universally accepted, so to, with the registration of these marks, Desktone hopes to provide the same level of clarity for DaaS.
Desktone explained that, although there are currently a number of emerging definitions in the market, desktops as a service, or DaaS, does not refer to any of the following client computing models: enterprise VDI where an organization owns the infrastructure that’s used to deliver hosted virtual desktops to its end-users; streaming virtual desktops to client machines where the VMs are cached and executed locally; server-based computing built on shared service environments like Terminal Services; or webtops, which don’t provide a true Windows client experience.
Desktone-powered DaaS enables enterprises to quickly realize the cost and flexibility benefits of virtual desktop computing without upfront CAPEX investments. Uniquely designed along two tiers (service provider and enterprise), the Virtual D-Platform lets enterprises keep their data secure within their own infrastructure, and maintain ownership and control over their Windows OS images, applications and all relating licensing, while outsourcing the physical data center infrastructure powering their virtual desktops to DaaS-certified service providers.
With Desktone DaaS, service providers can leverage their existing investments in data center infrastructure and networks to deliver an offering that enterprises want but aren’t equipped to implement, while providing a differentiated service and expanding revenue opportunities. Enterprise IT can continue using the best practices and skill sets already employed for managing desktops in the physical world, including those for OS and application deployment, Active Directory, help desk, and security policies. Finally, with DaaS, end-users get reliable, anytime, anywhere access to their desktops.
For additional perspective on the DaaS market, please visit the Desktone Desktops as a Service blog.