Don't deploy VDI to save money, say experts

Initial capital expenditure is significant, cost savings only come in over time

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions should not be deployed with the main goal of saving money.

That's one opinion to come out of a Computing webinar today titled 'How converged infrastructure gives VDI a new lease of life'.

Andy Trevor, managing director of virtualisation specialists Cutter Group explained that the initial costs of a VDI deployment can be high.

"Some organisations want to go for VDI purely to save money, and at that point we usually shake their hands and walk away," said Trevor. "The capex for a VDI deployment is often significantly higher than alternatives."

Martin Finch, enterprise solutions manager, at Fujitsu Technology Products Group, said that cost savings do appear further down the line.

"The operating expense over time is significantly reduced. With VDI you have one point of support and one point of management, so all the cost savings are after purchase," said Finch.

He added that VDI installations are more likely to be successful if requirements are better understood up front.

"Previously people leapt into VDI without great thought," said Finch. "Now there's more research going into why and how, and understanding the firm's requirements. With hardware now giving greater performance, if you understand the requirements up front, you're far more likely to see a successful deployment."

Trevor agreed, and explained that user expectations must also be set correctly before deployment.

"It's only 25 per cent about the technology, 75 per cent is about expectation management, understanding where VDI fits and where it doesn't, and then understanding the users' workflow," said Trevor.

He added that it's important to explain to users before deployment that some functionality may be taken away compared to a traditional desktop deployment, but other functionality will be enhanced.

"Once you've understood requirements and set expectations, only then do you start looking at the technology."

He continued: "Over the last few years there have been significant horror stories about VDI deployments that made people think twice, because projects were approached from the technologyfront rather than from the user angle.

"There are more success stories now with the advent of converged and hyper-converged solutions, as some risks are being taken away. Pre-packaged and pre-validated solutions allow the purchaser to buy something with fewer risks," said Trevor.