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Batter Up - VDI Predictions for 2012

Contributed Article by Jim Curtin, Founder and CEO, Virtual Bridges

As both the son of a coach and someone who played baseball competitively for many years, I've spent most of my life on the ball field. Like sports, technology has its wins and losses, twists and turns, dramatic starts and finishes and is constantly sending new challenges our way.

2012 represents a new playing field for VDI. With opening day just around the corner, here's what we can expect.

Separating from the pack.

While first generation VDI solutions were known for being costly, complex and limited in coverage, VDI Gen2 has removed that burden and is knocking it out of the park by reducing the expense and complications that plagued earlier solutions. In 2012 we will see even more separation in the standings as Gen2 amps up its game. As a pure desktop solution (not a repurposed server solution), organizations appreciate that VDI Gen2 offers a high quality experience for all users, regardless of location. We'll see organizations take the plunge and move VDI beyond the data center and LAN-bound scenarios to deliver value to off-line users, branch users and server-hosted users, all from the same management interface. This will drive mass adoption of VDI, and strong returns for VDI Gen2 vendors.

Branch becomes the MVP.

For too long, branch users have taken a back seat to those at headquarters. They've suffered as WAN optimization infrastructures failed, and wasted too many hours waiting for program updates. In 2012 we'll see branch solutions take charge and raise their place in the standings. The technology has evolved allowing branch users to benefit from direct connections and bi-directional sync. As a result, we'll see improved performance and efficiencies out of branches in 2012. We'll also see a decrease in workforce disruptions during natural disasters. Ultimately, the trend toward decentralization will continue as organizations open and support more branches without impacting productivity.

A new entrant will throw VDI a curveball.  

In 2012 we'll see IBM rise as a major player in the VDI space. The company launched its enterprise version in late 2011 (IBM Virtual Desktop for Smart Business 6.0), providing virtual Windows and Linux desktops that can be accessed from a variety of end user devices such as iPads, thin clients, desktops, tablets and laptops. Organizations are quickly taking notice and I anticipate demand to grow even more in 2012.

As a result of IBM's role, I think we'll see more attention brought to the space and broader interest in VDI as a whole. We'll see organizations dip their toes into VDI with departmental implementations, and then expand to enterprise-wide deployments. These successes will contribute to a better understanding of VDI, highlighting its possibilities and debunking its myths.

A year from now, when we look back on 2012, I hope we have a highlight reel packed with big time plays. I hope we see many shining moments from our customers, amplifying the benefits of VDI in their own organizations. And hope we see some underdogs rise up against the traditional powers to take the industry by storm.

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About the Author

Jim Curtin, Founder, President and CEO of Virtual Bridges

Jim has been on the forefront of change in the computer industry over most of his 26 year career. At Digital Equipment Corporation, Jim was involved in one of the first PC roll outs and introduction of PC-based tools in the organization. He then moved on to Open Systems with the Open Software Foundation and as Managing Director of Asia Pacific promoted the benefits of distributed computing ahead of the internet. With the advent of the internet, Jim turned to network security management and policy enforcement as a co-founder and CEO of DASCOM, Inc. DASCOM, Inc. was acquired by IBM in 1999 and Jim served as VP of Security. In 2000, Jim turned to combining the benefits of Open Source and Linux to the problem of desktop management in what has now become known as VDI. Jim co-founded Virtual Bridges in 2006 to take this vision to the next level in bringing VDI to the Cloud.  Jim is a graduate of Harvard University and Digital's Financial Development Program.