An Oriel Whitepaper
An Oriel Whitepaper
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How Cloud-based Virtual Desktops are driving
the Modern Enterprise
Executive Summary
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Desktops: Ripe for Change
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Is VDI the Answer?
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Why DaaS Makes Sense
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Optimal Use Cases for DaaS
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The Oriel DaaS Solution
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The Oriel Advantage
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Conclusion
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About Oriel Technologies
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An Oriel Whitepaper
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Physical desktop computer infrastructures no longer
make sense for the corporate world. Not only are they
expensive, insecure, and maintenance-heavy, they also
cannot effectively support the changing business IT
landscape.
The groundswell of Windows 7 migrations plans, expanding virtual workforce, growing popularity of mobile devices and demand for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and now CYOD (Choose Your Own Device) support, as well as tighter IT budgets, all point to the need to re-evaluate desktop strategies. While virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) appeared to be a promising alternative, in reality, it’s too costly and complex for most organisations to implement successfully.
Cloud services, however, are helping to mitigate many of the challenges of traditional VDI at an increasing rate. Brett Waldman, Research Manager for IDC’s Cloud and Virtualisation System Software, predicts that the hosted Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) market will grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 84.6 percent through to 2016.i
By moving virtual desktops to the cloud rather than implementing an internally deployed and managed data centre, organisations can realise all the promised benefits of virtual desktops – centralised management, improved data security, and simplified deployment – without the exorbitant cost, limitations, or hassles of having to manage it themselves.
This whitepaper will explore:
• The reasons behind changing traditional desktop computing strategies
• Why DaaS is a compelling solution for many organisations • How to leverage DaaS for various use cases including
Windows 7 migrations, remote and mobile workers, and disaster recovery scenarios.
Executive Summary
An Oriel Whitepaper
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Desktop computing has become a burden for IT departments. While it is essential for delivering
necessary applications and services to end users, IT managers are encumbered by the
tremendous amount of time, complexity, and cost inherent in managing and securing physical
PCs.
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Furthermore, an increasingly tech-savvy user base is becoming frustrated by desktops that don’t have the flexibility and self-service capabilities that today’s workforce has come to expect. As consumerisation of corporate IT accelerates, organisations needs to be able to manage this and the need for innovation.
While businesses have been aware of these issues for years, many are only recently reaching the tipping point for change. The trifecta of Windows XP support expiration, the increased usage of mobile access devices, and tighter IT budgets has created the perfect storm for desktop computing change. These are the three main challenges to enterprise IT that organisations are facing today.
Migration to Windows 7: With Microsoft ending support for Windows XP, most businesses have undertaken a migration to the Windows 7 operating system (OS). Forrester notes that in June 2012, more than 50 percent of corporate
computers were running Windows XP.ii As of February 2014, this number had decreased to 30 percent.iii However, many older PCs aren’t equipped to run Windows 7, meaning organisations are forced to purchase new computers in order to migrate workers. Gartner estimates that affected
businesses will end up replacing approximately 25 percent of their PCs before the end of their lifecycle to accommodate for
Desktop: Ripe for Change
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Windows 7.iv On the other hand, organisations that decide to migrate existing computers instead of replacing them will fail to benefit from substantial cost savings due to the parts and labour required for memory, hard disks, and/or video adapters, among other upgrades.
Growing mobile access: In 2012, the number of workers operating from multiple locations grew to reach 29% of the global workforce. More recently, Gartner published that 60 percent of workers reported using a mobile device for work purposes at least once per day.v This mobile workforce is accessing business applications and services from a variety of devices, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones – each of which is increasing in prevalence year after year. Organisations need a way to enable secure and controllable access – anytime, anywhere – to the tools, data, and resources necessary to maintain enterprise-class performance.
Stringent IT budgets: PCs can consume up to 10 percent of IT budgets, yet fail to provide any competitive advantage. With ongoing continued economic volatility, businesses are keeping a tighter rein on IT expenditures. Wholesale PC refreshments and Windows 7 upgrades are no longer feasible, and the cost of supporting an increasingly dispersed user base needs to be reduced.
An Oriel Whitepaper
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The need to re-evaluate desktop strategies is driving many organisations to consider VDI – and
with good reason. VDI has promised to solve many traditional challenges of physical desktops.
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Because virtual desktops are centralised onto virtual machines that run on corporate data centre servers, VDI makes day-to-day tasks such as deploying new desktops or applications and supporting mobile workers much easier and less labour-intensive. Users access their virtual desktops via PC remoting technology, making it possible for IT to finely control the movement of data into and out of the data centre. Corporate data is not stored on the local device, enabling organisations to minimise risk if PCs or mobile devices are lost or stolen.
However, in spite of these benefits, VDI has failed to grow in popularity due to the many barriers to adoption. These are:
Cost: Although VDI is noted as being less expensive than fleets of physical computers, organisations frequently spend much more than anticipated. The upfront CAPEX required to start a VDI deployment is tremendous. To illustrate, simply moving hard drives from the desktop to the data centre can potentially increase storage costs by more than 100 times. When combined with compute density challenges and increased data centre expenses for power, cooling, and floor space, the cost of moving desktops to the data centre can quickly become prohibitive.
Complexity: The technologies needed for VDI include servers, storage, networking, thin clients, and virtualisation
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software. These are provided by different vendors, causing considerable confusion among IT staff about which
technologies to adopt. Once the infrastructure has been built, organisations are left with vendor lock-in which can be detrimental in a market where technology changes are constant. Additionally, VDI technologies are often managed by different internal IT groups which make coordinating virtual desktop initiatives a logistical nightmare. With VDI, businesses need additional dedicated virtualisation experts to manage the infrastructure.
Scale: VDI solutions are not designed to scale. While it is far easier to deploy virtual desktops than physical desktops, IT must first have the capacity to deploy them. This becomes a notable operational barrier when organisations need to scale up quickly to support new employees or consultants on time-sensitive or temporary projects. Furthermore, due to latency issues, performance is best when users are located near the data centres, an often unattainable goal considering most organisations don’t have the data centre footprint needed to ensure optimal, or even adequate, performance.
Strategic Goals: When implementing a VDI solution, businesses still need to construct and manage infrastructure to support desktops, and most IT departments do not want to be in the business of desktop management.
Is VDI the Answer?
An Oriel Whitepaper
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With the cloud now a viable business option due to the flexibility and cost savings it can deliver,
it makes sense for organisations to leverage cloud-hosted desktops to transform end user
computing into next generation workspaces.
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In much the same manner as virtualisation, cloud computing started on the server side and has begun moving to the desktop; the cloud is now ripe for desktop infrastructure. By moving desktops to the cloud businesses can realise all of the promised benefits of virtual desktops – centralised management, improved data security, and simplified deployment – without the associated costs, challenges, limitations, and hassles.
Reduced desktop costs: Because the physical infrastructure powering virtual desktops is outsourced, organisations are immediately able to achieve a positive ROI. Not only does DaaS eliminate VDI’s upfront CAPEX outlay and potential three to four year depreciation schedule, businesses also convert desktop computing CAPEX into OPEX. DaaS can be subscribed to at a set per desktop, monthly rate, and businesses only pay for what they use. All of this translates into reduced desktop total cost of ownership (TCO), achieved at the beginning of a cloud-hosted desktop deployment, as opposed to a goal with an 18 to 24 month lead time. Organisations can now budget for a set monthly subscription service, and no longer need to worry about hidden fees or costly over-provisioning.
Ease of manageability, one-touch support: The complexities associated with designing, implementing, and supporting virtual desktop infrastructure are gone. DaaS is easy to purchase and implement – the physical infrastructure is readily available from the service provider, and organisations outsource all deployment and operations. This saves a significant amount of time and money that would have traditionally been spent on physical desktop maintenance, while minimising the technical expertise businesses would otherwise need to leverage virtual desktops. Additionally, because desktops are delivered by a service provider over a secure network and supported by a Service Level Agreement (SLA), end users can expect better availability of their desktops than could be delivered with physical PCs, which often require a desk-side visit when things go wrong.
Why DaaS Makes Sense
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Device and location independence: Businesses can embrace next generation workers by providing them with the ability to use DaaS anytime, anywhere.
• Device independence: End users can work and access corporate applications and data from any device, without compromising data security or resource availability. • Location independence: Because the service provider has
multiple locations, data centre challenges due to proximity are eliminated.
Flexibility:
• No vendor lock-in: With DaaS, IT no longer has to worry about selecting the appropriate virtual desktop-related technologies, implementing technologies that may become obsolete, or being restricted to particular vendor roadmaps. • Fast ramp up and down: Quickly scale up or down by
adding or removing virtual desktops to the monthly subscription in minutes. This enables IT to deliver on many projects (both short and long term), traditionally viewed as challenging, such as scaling up desktop environments for seasonal or contractual work, or quickly deploying desktops for offices in new locations.
• Geographic agility: Corporate data centre footprints won’t constrain DaaS deployments. Cloud-hosted virtual desktops can be provisioned by service providers on a global scale. This allows users to gain access to their virtual desktop from just about anywhere, and business to expand the regions from which they source talent since they are no longer limited to corporate offices and internal infrastructure.
• Easy to try and buy: Without the need to deploy infrastructure or software, organisations can quickly and easily try DaaS before buying. This allows businesses to more clearly visualise the real-world implications of such a powerful solution, and quickly proceed to implementation with minimal delays.
An Oriel Whitepaper
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Organisations can realise a substantial impact on their operations by leveraging DaaS for key
scenarios. Ideal use cases for desktops in the cloud are:
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Cloud-savvy organisations: Many organisations are moving to a cloud-first model, from desktops to business-critical applications. Virtualisation is not just at the server level anymore – businesses are now looking to leverage the benefits of the cloud down to the end user and their end point device.
Small and medium businesses: DaaS is ideal for businesses that don’t have the in-house skills or endless IT resources required to deploy and manage physical or traditional virtual desktops. With DaaS, new users can be added quickly and easily from anywhere and within minutes through an intuitive, web-based secure portal.
Remote and mobile workers: Whether they are
telecommuting, offshore, or contracting, virtual workers are becoming a larger percentage of the corporate end user population every year. With DaaS, businesses can support geographically dispersed workers in a cost–effective and secure manner. Contractors can easily access the corporate environment from their personal devices and employees can access their desktops when they are at home or on the road, even when they don’t have their own computer. Overseas workers can be granted access to the corporate network without concern that sensitive data will be at risk since it is not stored locally.
Elastic and flexible demands for desktops: Many organisations need desktops for unique tasks or one-off projects. For example, developers need environments for
Optimal Use Cases for DaaS
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building and testing applications. As a flexible cloud-hosted virtual desktop solution, DaaS enables rapid scaling of desktops to accommodate evolving needs, even for temporary purposes, without the need for major infrastructure changes or upgrades.
Windows 7 migrations: As earlier discussed, DaaS enables businesses to leverage their existing hardware instead of having to replace or upgrade desktop computers in order to run Windows 7. Not only will organisations save money that would have otherwise been spent on near-term PC refreshes, they can also extend the life of their existing fleet beyond what would have been possible. When organisations do decide to replace their rich desktops, they can do so with less costly and more power-efficient thin client devices.
Desktop disaster recovery: Many organisations have DR strategies for their server infrastructure however these typically do not account for their desktops. In the event of a disaster, the impact on end users – and the wider business – can be detrimental. DaaS provides a cost-effective disaster recovery solution that can be implemented easily and rapidly. Mergers and acquisitions: Merging two distinct entities into one productive organisation is fraught with challenges. A key to achieving business goals is the successful integration of IT systems and processes. DaaS enables businesses
undergoing M&A integration to rapidly deliver consistent desktop images with access to the right applications and data to every user.
An Oriel Whitepaper
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The first in Australia to leverage VMware’s Horizon DaaS technology, Oriel has designed an elastic,
scalable, and secure solution that not only reduces capital and operational costs, but elevates
collaboration and innovation through a virtual desktop platform.
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Oriel DaaS delivers a complete Windows OS desktop
experience from the cloud, ensuring no hindrance to productivity and a drastic increase in efficiency, all as a monthly subscription service. Its always-on, device agnostic construction provides users with a completely customised and familiar experience from any device, and a desktop instance which maintains its status and integrity between each log in.
Oriel DaaS enables organisations to achieve the all-important balance between worker flexibility and manageability without compromising on corporate security or end user experience.
Option 1: Oriel Standard DaaS
• 1 vCPU • 2GB memory • 35GB Disk • Windows OS
• Uses either existing customer desktop licensing capabilities or Oriel-provided Microsoft Server images.
• High performing on either dedicated or multi-tenant hardware.
Option 2: Oriel Managed DaaS
The Oriel Managed DaaS offering comprises all the options of Oriel Standard DaaS as well as access to:
• Oriel Service Desk: provides the control and command centre for all customer IT services
• Oriel End User Management: provides the user profile management, desktop and device management amongst other services.
The Oriel DaaS Solution
2The Oriel Advantage
Oriel is the first VMware Horizon DaaS partner in Australia, making Oriel DaaS an exclusive solution and the only one of its kind available to Australian organisations. Oriel is dedicated to providing a world class DaaS experience for its customers, enabling them to thrive in the virtual era whilst driving real business results. The Oriel DaaS service is a component of Oriel’s very mature, fully managed
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offering.
Oriel’s solutions cover the spectrum of managed IT services – networking, systems, communications, support, managed WAN, as well as private, hybrid, and public cloud. All of Oriel’s services are designed with business needs in mind and meet the security, compliance, and flexibility standards that its customers have come to expect. Taking a
consultancy-led approach enables Oriel to develop a deep understanding of its customers’ corporate environments and tailor solutions accordingly.
An Oriel Whitepaper
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The desktop market is ever-changing. End users are more mobile than ever before and are
accessing corporate resources from a variety of devices including laptops, tablets, and
smartphones. These new flexible business models, the need to reduce desktop TCO, and
demand for mobile device support are driving organisations to re-evaluate their overall desktop
strategy. VDI was supposed to address many of these challenges; instead, it created formidable
new issues. Due to VDI’s inherent complexity and typically large upfront CAPEX, virtual desktop
adoption has stalled and is an impossible feat for many organisations.
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DaaS eliminates these barriers to adoption, delivering a complete desktop from the cloud and offering all of the benefits of VDI with none of the downsides. Businesses can mitigate the cost and complexity of deploying and managing desktops while enabling the flexibility that users require – all without
compromising corporate security. And by transforming desktops from the CAPEX outlay inherent in enterprise onsite desktop virtualisation and physical PC refreshes, businesses benefit from a predictable, easily budgeted OPEX-based desktop
environment.
Oriel’s DaaS solution makes it easy for organisations to take advantage of cloud-hosted desktops. It provides end users with a seamless, persistent Windows desktop experience at each log in, allowing access to the files, applications, and resources they need most, in the setting that is most familiar to them – all managed and secured by Oriel. With Oriel DaaS, businesses can reduce the costs of Windows 7 migrations, simplify support for mobile and departmental workers, and improve desktop disaster recovery.
Conclusion
i IDC, ‘Virtual Desktops: Simplifying Implementation to Save Time and Money’, Brett Waldman, April 2012 ii Forrester, ‘Navigating Diversity in Operating Systems and Browsers’, J. P. Gownder, April 2013
iii NetMarketShare.com, ‘Desktop Operating System Market Share’, March 2014
iv Gartner, ‘The Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014’, David W. Cearley, February 2014 v Gartner, ‘Bring Your Own Device: The Facts and the Future’, David Willis, April 2013
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About Oriel
Oriel Technologies is one of Australia’s leading managed IT service providers, offering bespoke solutions to organisations that seek business-driven IT. Oriel aims to make the complex simple and to deliver the best possible IT services and solutions in the industry.
For more information, visit www.oriel.com.au
