For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

July 29, 2009

Know your Facts: Understanding The Realities Of Desktop And Application virtualization
by natalie lambert with Lauren E. Nelson and Galen Schreck

ExECUT I v E S U M MA Ry
Despite client virtualization becoming increasingly popular, there is still much confusion about the different technologies and how they will play out in the enterprise. During end user interviews, inquiries, and roundtable discussions, Forrester found many misconceptions about client virtualization. Specifically, many firms still believe that client virtualization is a security risk or that a single technology will help them improve manageability, empower remote workers, and virtualize all their applications. To make matters worse, vendors exaggerate the cost savings from client virtualization and cite shorter ROIs than are typically experienced by clients instead of highlighting the actual benefits that make client virtualization worth investing in. For these reasons, weve outlined the five most common myths about client virtualization, and more importantly, the key benefits you should use to drive your client virtualization business case. Forget wHat you know about Client Virtualization Client virtualization includes four technologies: 1) local desktop virtualization; 2) hosted desktop virtualization; 3) local application virtualization; and 4) hosted application virtualization.1 Together these technologies provide IT ops professionals better manageability; data and device security; more tools to comply with regulations; and business continuity in the event of disaster, loss, or workforce interruption. However, in their quest for a shorter sales cycle, vendors often ignore these benefits and make false claims about potential cost savings. As a result, some users fear that client virtualization isnt all it was cracked up to be. the top Five Myths that it Folks Have about Client Virtualization Based on our conversations with IT ops professionals, there are five common misunderstandings about client virtualization:

Myth No. 1: A single technology will meet all of my needs. Users still expect that a single client

virtualization technology will solve all of their problems, from lowering the cost of managing the desktop environment, to providing better remote access, to insuring business continuity. The reality? To meet these objectives, a variety of client virtualization technologies is needed. At a high level, local application virtualization lowers the cost of supporting traditionally installed applications. Hosted application virtualization enables problematic legacy applications to be separated from other applications. Local desktop virtualization allows IT to run a managed desktop environment on an unmanaged machine. Hosted desktop virtualization enables anyone with network connectivity to
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Know your Facts: Understanding The Realities Of Desktop And Application virtualization
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

access a corporate desktop. However, these technologies become much more interesting when you combine them. For example, combining hosted desktop and application virtualization provides the benefits listed above at a lower cost than implementing only one of the technologies.

Myth No. 2: Desktop virtualization is a security risk. Perhaps youve been told that desktop

virtualization is less secure than a physical desktop in reality, it actually enables a more secure client environment. Most importantly, hosted desktop virtualization removes all of the applications and data from the endpoint device. This means that your data security is immediately improved because you no longer need to worry about devices with sensitive data being lost or stolen. Furthermore, local desktop virtualization allows your IT staffers extensive control of the desktop environment by locking it down more than was possible before. This is made possible by giving the worker access to the host OS, where he or she can install software that is not allowed in the virtualized corporate environment.

Myth No. 3: Virtualizing applications is just another way to package applications. Many

companies think that application virtualization is just another format to package your applications in. Think again. Local application virtualization isolates applications so that, generally speaking, they cant natively interact with other applications. This is a great feature because it prevents application conflicts. On the other hand, it also means that your IT staff responsible for application packaging must understand application interdependencies to get them functional in this format. Because applications run in isolated bubbles, you must explicitly define when applications are permitted to communicate across these boundaries. Most organizations will see hundreds of dependencies that must be defined to assure applications will work in this environment.

Myth No. 4: The business case for desktop virtualization has to be around cost. Be warned:

The nine-month ROI that vendors might advertise for their latest and greatest technologies can actually average three or four years, according to our clients that have crunched the numbers for their hosted desktop virtualization deployments. Why? Because the upfront infrastructure and licensing costs far outweigh the upfront benefits. So, although your CIO will ask for an ROI model when budgeting for a new technology, it shouldnt be the focal point of the proposal.2 Make sure to present the other more significant benefits, such as reduced support costs or improved data security, to make your case. We have found that companies that take into account all of the long-term benefits from desktop virtualization succeed, while those that stick to the numbers are stuck with management responding, Try again next year.

Myth No. 5: All of the ideal user scenarios can be legally implemented. It would be wonderful
if your existing operating system and business application licenses allowed you to take advantage of the world of virtualization for example, workers taking their OS or applications on the road to use on whichever computing device was most convenient at the time.3 Alas, you

July 29, 2009

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Know your Facts: Understanding The Realities Of Desktop And Application virtualization
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

cannot OS and application licensing havent caught up to the technologies available today. For example, local application virtualization makes it possible for IT staffers to put applications on a removable media device for users to carry around with them to any device. Virtualization also makes it possible to timeshare applications, giving morning shift workers access to applications when they are in the office and evening workers access to these same applications. However, these scenarios are generally not permitted by your software license which is often bound to a specific user or computing device. Make sure to read your licensing agreements carefully so you dont become the next victim of noncompliance. top beneFits oF Client Virtualization tHat Vendors sHould be telling you about Since a business case based on a quick ROI or potential savings in areas such as licensing costs is a bad idea, what should you build your business case around? Forrester recommends that you highlight the following:

Extending the PC refresh cycle or migrating to lower-cost and lower-risk thin clients.

Hosted client virtualization models transfer the heavy processing from endpoint devices to servers in the data center. In the past, PCs lasted only three to four years because they couldnt support the increased processing demands of new applications. Now that the heavy lifting has been offloaded, PCs can be used until they mechanically wear out after six to eight years. Our clients tell us that extending their PCs useful life is helping them pay for client virtualization deployments. Furthermore, because client virtualization now enables entire desktops (not just applications) to be hosted in the data center, thin-client devices will become a viable option for all user types, not just task-based employees requiring access to limited applications.

Increasing data security. Organizations that have successfully deployed client virtualization

tell us that they have seen dramatic improvements in their data security. Why? Because hosted virtualization technologies enable organizations to remove all data from the users machines and instead host it in the data center. Now, a lost or stolen machine means little more than the cost of the device, instead of the potential data breach that used to keep IT folks up at night.

Increasing user productivity and improving employee satisfaction. Client virtualization

helps increase user productivity and employee satisfaction in a variety of ways. Using either hosted desktop or hosted application virtualization, your workers can access their desktops, or applications that they could previously only access on their PC, from any device and any location. This enables workers to be productive from places such as a home office or hotel kiosk, instead of only in the office on their corporate desktop. In addition, using local desktop or local application virtualization, unmanaged PCs like an employees own laptop can run corporate applications; this has proven to lead to an increase in worker productivity as well as satisfaction.

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Know your Facts: Understanding The Realities Of Desktop And Application virtualization
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Lower support costs. One of the most expensive areas surrounding PC support is on-site

visits an on-site support visit can cost eight times as much as a phone-based support call. Hosted client virtualization technologies make desk visits a thing of the past because all of the computing is now happening in the data center. This means that IT staffers can fix desktop or application problems simply by logging into the server. For PC or thin client problems, organizations are finding that it is less expensive to replace the old or low-cost hardware than spend time troubleshooting. Local application virtualization can also reduce support costs because its isolation capabilities eliminate application conflicts. IT ops pros have told us that local application virtualization decreases their desktop application support costs by 80%.

Faster time to complete mergers and acquisitions. Mergers and acquisitions take a lot of

time and resources especially for those charged with onboarding the new employees. This is a great use case for client virtualization: Hosted virtualization technologies enable IT to simply provide access to a workers applications or desktop, instead of the previous world of full desktop provisioning. Additionally, IT can virtualize a desktop environment and enable workers to run this new virtual image on their previously provisioned machines. One pharmaceutical organization we spoke to was able to get employees of an acquisition up and running in two days using hosted virtualization technologies instead of the six weeks it took in the past.

More easily support contractors and other unmanaged workers. Before client virtualization,

IT had three choices when it came to providing access to contractors: 1) provision them a full PC; 2) provide them access to corporate resources using a VPN; or 3) just let them use their own machine. None of these options were ideal. Thankfully, today there are many other ways to give unmanaged workers secure, managed access to corporate resources. For example, using local desktop virtualization, organizations can create a virtual image and allow contractors to run it on unmanaged machines. This will allow IT to fully manage and secure the corporate image while it runs on an unmanaged device. Likewise, IT can provide a hosted desktop environment that contractors can access from any device while under contract with your organization.

Building out business continuity and disaster recovery plans. Client virtualization is

becoming part of organizations business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) plans because it allows workers to remotely access everything they need to continue working with minimal interruption. The majority of workers will have the ability to work from home or from any other location (using any device) while still having access to the applications they need to do their job.

endnotes
1

To virtualize or not to virtualize? That is no longer the question. The new question that desktop managers should ask is, What desktop environment strikes the balance between productive users and ITs need for

July 29, 2009

2009, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Know your Facts: Understanding The Realities Of Desktop And Application virtualization
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

increased manageability and security? Emerging client virtualization technologies have the answer: Costeffectively deliver a desktop tailored to each user scenario. This means that the traditional desktop model inherently insecure, inflexible, and hard-to-manage is a thing of the past. Organizations will instead identify their users by criteria like task-based, knowledge, or power users and will deliver dynamic desktops accordingly. After speaking to organizations looking at desktop and application virtualization, we know that client virtualization is not just an emerging trend, its the future of the corporate PC. See the April 9, 2008, Demystifying Client Virtualization report.
2

While implementing a client virtualization solution can reduce costs, be sure to also look at the softer benefits and use them to strengthen your business case. Although Cox saw real monetary savings in the form of more effective staffing distribution, a reduction in office space requirements, and decreased agent turnover, their agents also benefited from a better work/life balance and fewer commuting expenses, and the company fulfilled its commitment to reducing its environmental impact. Coupled with traditional metrics like ROI, these additional benefits can make an impact in this increasingly green-conscious world. See the July 11, 2008, Client Virtualization Enables Green Customer Care Centers: A Cox Communications Case Study report. At the beginning of the year, Microsoft upJuly 29, 2009d its Windows licensing for desktop virtualization. This means that IT professionals exploring the use of desktop virtualization to support various scenarios, such as contractors and bring your own PC (BYOPC), now have the ability to license Windows legally. Unfortunately, Software Assurance (SA) remains key to any desktop virtualization scenario, so make sure to keep in close contact with your sourcing team to prevent any end-of-year true-up nightmares. At the end of the day, these additional licensing options will only push desktop virtualization further into the mainstream by enabling flexible licensing to meet your users diverse requirements. See the April 9, 2009, Desktop Virtualization: The Updated Rules Of The Road For Virtualizing Windows report.

Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) is an independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology. Forrester works with professionals in 19 key roles at major companies providing proprietary research, consumer insight, consulting, events, and peer-to-peer executive programs. For more than 25 years, Forrester has been making IT, marketing, and technology industry leaders successful every day. For more information, visit www.forrester.com. 2009, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester, Technographics, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. To purchase reprints of this document, please email clientsupport@forrester.com. For additional information, go to www.forrester.com. 55108