Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2020. Read them in this 12th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
By Simon Townsend, Chief Marketing Officer, IGEL
Cloud Wars - The Rise of DaaS
The much-anticipated Episode IX of Star Wars is almost upon
us and so too is 2020. As we enter a new decade it's time for reflection, and
reevaluation. And no IT area is this more relevant than at the desktop.
End User Computing (EUC) has been evolving year on year for
some time. The majority of folks have been on the ‘WinTel' treadmill for some
time, managing desktops/laptops and migrating through the various versions of
Windows. For others, Citrix and VMWare have provided desktop virtualization
solutions, improving security, attempting to reduce the cost of managing
desktops and solving many other challenges along the way. These methods have
seen the technology and feature set evolve for some time, but the overall cost
and investment has been similar for many years. In 2020, with the end of support
for Windows 7 and new ways to consume Windows desktops and applications, here are
my predictions for 2020 and why I think 2020 will start to see more of a revolution
than evolution...
The year of VDI is 2020, and VDI
is spelled WVD. Microsoft Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) will take the cloud
workspace market by storm. In fact, I expect that it will take off much faster
than anyone expects, shipping more than 5,000,000 licenses in 2020. Why? The
Microsoft Azure-based Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution offers Microsoft
customers an easy migration path from traditional Windows on individual
endpoint devices to Windows in the cloud. And it's not just about the
technology (say that to yourself again!) Simple virtual desktop licensing and
new DaaS-friendly features like multi-session Windows 10, make Windows Virtual
Desktop a logical, economical and safe choice. Plus, you can bet given
Microsoft's success with Office 365, Microsoft will put some serious muscle
behind its new entry to the DaaS market.
It's not just about Desktops... Deploying applications continues to plague organizations and Microsoft App Attach, Amazon AppStream, Liquidware, Droplet Computing and layering technologies from other ecosystem vendors will be an interesting area to watch. With the ability to securely deliver "legacy Windows" desktop applications to any computer or provide new ways to deploy application sets to common non persistent images, these technologies will play a major role in the move to virtual desktops. Other, new DaaS and application delivery as a service solutions, such as Nutanix Frame and Workspot also offer new ways to consume both applications and desktops from the cloud.
VMware and Citrix will realize record
growth in VDI. This might at first sound counterintuitive, but Windows
Virtual Desktop will drive more businesses to look at Desktop as a Service. Whilst
WVD offers a lower cost licensing option, going Native WVD for some
organizations will not provide them with the feature set they have become
accustom to. With Citrix and VMWare providing complimentary solutions, in
addition to their on premises and cloud-based alternatives, organizations will
continue to look to the market leaders for complete solutions, combined with
the commercial benefits of WVD.
Desktop security and management tools
vendors will have to change their strategy. As EUC moves more towards the
cloud, desktop security and tools vendors will be required to focus more
attention on support for DaaS and less on traditional endpoint management. With
desktops hosted in the cloud, there is less need to have tools locally deployed.
More security and control will be applied directly to the cloud-based
applications and at times, managed as a service. In addition, between VMware
Workspace One and the newly announced Microsoft Endpoint Manager, both VMware
and Microsoft 2 will dominate the endpoint management space and how we control
traditional, non-cloud workspaces. Improved workflows, on boarding, embedded
security controls and all-encompassing licensing will mean more organizations
can deploy and manage endpoints from cloud services which both cost less time
and money. As this continues, more business units, like HR, compliance, and service
desk, will need to be more involved in the acquisition of traditional IT tools.
The cloud supremacy battle will
intensify. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud will each
be clamoring to secure the greatest market share, particularly with enterprises.
As a result, we'll see many announcements of multi-billion commitments to these
vendors. Likewise, you'll see an increasing pressure for software vendors to
offer truly cloud-agnostic solutions so that customers can retain choice and be
free from cloud lock-in.
Green tech gains ground. Global
climate change will undeniably accelerate, and as a result more companies will
seek opportunities to go "greener." Green technology options - DaaS and
efficient, environmentally friendly endpoint devices among them - will
increasingly see a higher billing on selection criteria lists compared to
solutions that don't contribute to greater sustainability.
And the endpoint itself...well,
I am somewhat biased. Microsoft is more open source than ever...Linux is winning
in the cloud, in IOT and now on the endpoint. Smaller, greener, more efficient
endpoints are available. And with Windows desktops and applications in the
cloud, the endpoint is no longer the dark side of IT which consumes time and
money.
##
About the Author
Simon Townsend is the chief marketing officer for IGEL, provider of the next-gen edge OS
for cloud workspaces. Having managed and led marketing, product marketing,
product management and global systems engineering and pre sales teams, Simon is
a passionate and experienced technologist, evangelist and marketing leader with
both field, channel and executive-level experience.