CIOs still reluctant to take desktop virtualisation plunge

Buyers are worried about unintentionally investing in the 'Betamax of virtualisation'

IT leaders are reluctant to implement desktop virtualisation strategies because they are worried about purchasing the wrong solution, according to a new report entitled Solutions Guide Desktop Virtualisation by industry analysts Ovum.

"CIOs are coming under increasing pressure owing to the escalating cost of maintaining corporate-owned remote PCs and laptops, demands for more end-user flexibility and mobility, and the proliferation of personal mobile devices in the workplace," said Ovum principal analyst Roy Illsley.

Illsley argues that desktop virtualisation can go a long way towards reducing these costs, but said that the move away from business PCs has been "hampered by the fragmented market".

"The general view is that as the market is relatively immature, selecting the correct technology represents a significant risk because nobody wants to invest in the Betamax of the desktop virtualisation world," he said.

Ovum's research found that desktop virtualisation currently represents about 15 per cent of the business PC market. However, 12 per cent of this is dominated by the traditional terminal services model, which is typically used in call centre environments, and has been around for the past 10 years.

If this model is excluded, enterprise solutions from the likes of VMware, Citrix and Microsoft account for less than three per cent of the market. And Ovum suggests that most of these deployments are small scale.

"A recent CIO survey conducted by Ovum found that simplifying the management of desktops to reduce costs as well as increasing business agility were the top two reasons for implementing desktop virtualisation, meaning awareness of the potential benefits is high," said Illsley.

"But an often overlooked aspect is the need to shift thinking from a device-centric perspective to a user-centric one."

VMware and Citrix currently dominate the desktop virtualisation market, accounting for about 83 per cent share between them, while Microsoft holds an 11 per cent market share.