eWeek - May 21, 2007

Virtualization servers, could outstrip server virtualization, fueled by demand for greater security and manageability. Industry observers say desktop virtualization comes into focus won’t take off until software makers start creating applications to take advantage of the technology, though some users have found ways to use virtualization now.

At Canadian Blood Services in Ottawa, DESKTOP USERS LOOK FOR BETTER PC MANAGEMENT ^David ^Zavitske, ^a ^technical ^supportanalyst, said the organization is using

B Ty Scott Ferguson Jerry Chen, director of enterprise VMware’s ACE 2 software to control
he lion’s share of attention desktop platforms and solutions for about 300 Lenovo ThinkPad T60 note-
in the booming virtualization VMware, said customers are looking books that go out with its mobile cen-
arena has been in the data center for ways to not only better manage the ters. At the start of the day, the laptops
over the past several years, but desktop, but also the influx of mobile are given a virtual image created using
customers are beginning to see devices into the workplace. In addi- VMware’s Pocket ACE feature. After
value in the technology on the desktop, tion to ACE 2, which works with lap- patient information is collected through-
and vendors are moving to meet that tops and desktops, the out the day, the data is
demand. company’s VDI (virtual stored in an encrypted
VMware and others have been offer- desktop infrastructure) hard drive and the vir-
ing desktop virtualization products can handle enterprise- tual image is removed
for a few years, but the number of wide virtualization andreinstalledthenext
customers using those offerings has needs. day.
paled in comparison to the growth in “In the past year, “ Th ere w er e so
server virtualization adoption. we have seen a huge many possibilities
That is changing as users see the investment in VDI and for us using this, but
management and security benefits server-based comput- this really caught our
of being able to run multiple soft- ing,” Chen said. “For eye and it just makes
ware instances on a single physical security reasons, there a lot of sense when
machine and vendors roll out more is a huge trend toward you think about the
products aimed at increasing desktop centralizing in one amount of regulations
efficiency. environment. You also we have to deal with,”
Companies such as NEC Corp. of have situations where Zavitske said.
America and IBM are offering virtual- employees are using IDC analyst Michael
ization as part of all-encompassing their own laptops and Rose saiddesktop virtu-
packages designed to help a company now you have 500 dif- alization will help com-
manage its fleet of PCs through a ferent computers and panieslookingtobetter
server-based environment using thin- you have to look for a manage a fleet of sys-
client devices. way to manage those tems—as well as indi-
In April, NEC, of Irving, Texas, as well.” vidual PCs—through-
started to leverage its own hardware Still, there is the out their enterprise.
know-how with VMware’s virtualiza- question of how long will it take for “There still is an issue of cost and
tion technology for a one-stop thin- desktop virtualization to reach its full problems with how the technology
client and infrastructure solution. potential. Research company Gartner handles multimedia,” said Rose, add-
In addition, IBM, of Armonk, N.Y., said in a May 8 report that there is ing that NEC seems to be working
expanded its Virtualized Hosted Cli- potential for virtualization—both in on the problem by co-developing a
ent Infrastructure product with a new the data center and on the desktop—to microprocessor for its system that will
blade offering and thin clients from reshape the IT landscape. The report allow better graphics. “Still, I think we
Devon I T. More recently, VMware on found that while there were only are going through one big evolutionary
May 15 released the full version of its 540,000 virtual machines at the end process and I think IT managers are
ACE 2 software, which offers enhance- of 2006, there could be more than 4 out there looking for what is the most
ments in its ability to virtualize indi- million by 2009. cost-effective way of implementing
vidual desktops and notebooks. Desktop virtualization, which Gart- these technologies.” ´