Whitepaper:

How the Cloud is

Reshaping Virtual

Desktops

A TIME WARNER CABLE COMPANY

Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ` 3

DESKTOPS: RIPE FOR CHANGE 4

IS VDI THE ANSWER? 5

CLOUD-HOSTED DESKTOPS MAKE SENSE 6

OPTIMAL USE CASES FOR CLOUD-HOSTED DESKTOPS 8

THE NAVICLOUD® ONE SOLUTION 9

CONCLUSION 10

ABOUT NAVISITE 10

3

Executive Summary:

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 rapidly changing

business IT landscape. The groundswell of

Windows 7 migration plans, an expanding

virtual workforce, the growing popularity of

mobile devices, and tighter IT budgets each

point to the need to reevaluate desktop

strategies. While virtual desktop

infrastructure (VDI) seems like a promising

alternative, in reality, it’s too costly and

complex for most companies to implement

successfully.

Cloud services, however, are helping mitigate

many of the challenges of traditional virtual

desktop infrastructure at an increasing rate.

In a recent webinar, Brett Waldman,

Research Manager for IDC’s Cloud and

Virtualization System Software, he forecasts

the hosted workspace-as-a-service market,

which includes virtual desktops, to grow at a

compounded annual growth rate of 84.6%

from 2011 through 2016. By moving virtual

desktops to the Cloud rather than

implementing an internally deployed and

managed data center,

companies can realize the benefits of virtual

desktops including:

• Centralized management

• Improved data security

• Simplified deployment

Cloud based virtual desktops achieve these

benefits without the excessive costs,

limitations, or hassles of VDI. There is,

essentially, no reason to migrate the

complexities and costs of managing physical

desktops to another complex and expensive

infrastructure.

In this whitepaper, we will explore:

• The reasons behind changing traditional

desktop computing strategies

• Why cloud-hosted virtual desktops are a

compelling solution for many businesses

• How to leverage cloud-hosted desktops

for Windows 7 migrations, mobile and

departmental workers, and disaster

recovery scenarios.

4

Desktop: Ripe for Change

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 to

managing and securing physical PCs.

Furthermore, a progressively tech-savvy user

base is becoming more frustrated by

computers which don’t have the flexibility and

capabilities today’s workforce has come to

expect.

While businesses have been aware of these

issues for years, many are, only recently,

reaching the tipping point for change. Today,

companies are facing a perfect storm for

desktop computing change, staring down

three main challenges to enterprise IT:

• MIGRATION TO WINDOWS 7: With

Microsoft ending support for Windows XP,

most companies have undertaken a

migration to the Windows 7 operating

system. Forrester notes that in June of

2012, more than 50% of corporate

computers were running Windows XP. * A

substantial number of older PCs, however,

aren’t equipped to run Windows 7; many

firms will find themselves confronting the

decision to purchase new computers in

order to migrate workers. For several

businesses, a significant portion of their

PCs will be replaced before the end of the

machines’ lifecycle in order to

accommodate Windows 7 migrations.*

Conversely, organizations that decide to

upgrade existing computers (instead of

replacing them) will fail to realize

substantial savings due to the new parts

and labor required for memory, hard disks,

and/or video adapters, among other

upgrades

• GROWING MOBILE ACCESS: IN 2012,

THE NUMBER OF EVER-CONNECTED

INFORMATION WORKERS, WHO

OPERATE FROM MULTIPLE

LOCATIONS, GREW TO REACH 29% OF

THE GLOBAL WORKFORCE: This mobile

workforce will be accessing business

applications and services from a variety of

devices, including iPads, Android tablets,

and smartphones – each increasing in

prevalence significantly year-over-year.

Companies need a way to enable secure

and controllable access – anywhere,

anytime – 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 often fail to provide any significant

competitive advantage. With ongoing

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.

5

BECAUSE DATA IS

NOT STORED ON

THE LOCAL DEVICE,

COMPANIES REDUCE

THE RISK IF PCS OR

MOBILE DEVICES ARE

LOST OR STOLEN.

Is VDI the Answer?

The need to reevaluate desktop strategies is

driving many companies to consider virtual

desktop infrastructure (VDI)—and with good

reason; VDI has promised to solve many

traditional challenges of physical desktops.

Because virtual desktops are centralized onto

virtual machines that run on corporate

datacenter servers, VDI makes day-to-day

tasks such as deploying new desktops or

applications, and supporting distributed

workers, much easier and less labor-

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 datacenter.

Because data is not stored on the local

device, companies reduce the risk if PCs or

mobile devices are lost or stolen.

However, in spite of these benefits, VDI has

failed to grow in popularity. The question to

ask is: What are the barriers to VDI

adoption?

• COST: Although VDI is noted as being less

expensive than fleets of physical

computers, companies frequently find

themselves spending much more than

originally anticipated; the up-front CAPEX

required to start a VDI deployment is

tremendous. To illustrate, simply moving

hard drives from the desktop to the

datacenter can potentially increase storage

costs more than 100-times. When

combined with compute density challenges

and increased datacenter expenses for

power, cooling, and floor space, the cost of

moving desktops to the datacenter can

quickly become prohibitive.

• COMPLEXITY: The technologies needed

for VDI (i.e., servers, storage, networking,

thin clients, and virtualization software) are

provided by many different vendors,

causing considerable confusion among IT

staff about which technologies to adopt.

Once the infrastructure is built, companies

are left with vendor lock-in, which can be

detrimental in a market where technology

changes are fast and furious. Additionally,

VDI technologies are often managed by

different internal IT groups, which makes

coordinating virtual desktop initiatives a

logistical nightmare. With VDI,

organizations need additional dedicated

virtualization experts to manage their

virtualization 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 companies need to scale up quickly

to support employees or consultants on

time-sensitive or temporary projects.

Furthermore, due to latency issues,

performance is greatest when users are

located near the datacenters, an often

unattainable goal considering most

companies don’t have the datacenter

footprint needed to ensure optimal, or even

adequate, performance.

• STRATEGIC GOALS: When implementing

a VDI solution, companies still need to

construct and to manage infrastructure to

support desktops, and most IT

departments do not want to be in the

business of desktop management.

Why Cloud-hosted Virtual Desktops Make Sense

6

Cloud computing has become a hot topic,

largely due to the flexibility and cost savings

it can deliver. In much the same manner as

virtualization, 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 rather than

an internally deployed and managed data

center, businesses can realize all the

promised benefits of virtual desktops—

centralized management, improved data

security, and simplified deployment— without

VDI’s costs, challenges, limitations or

hassles.

• REDUCED DESKTOP COSTS: Because

the physical infrastructure powering virtual

desktops is outsourced, IT organizations

are immediately able to achieve a positive

ROI. Not only do cloud-hosted desktops

eliminate VDI’s up-front CAPEX outlay and

potentially three-to-four year depreciation

schedule, businesses also convert desktop

computing CAPEX into OPEX. Virtual

desktops can be subscribed to at a set per

desktop, monthly rate, and businesses

only pay for the virtual desktops that are

needed. 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. Companies can now budget for a set

monthly fee without any hidden costs or

surprises.

• SIMPLE MANAGEMENT, ONE-TOUCH

SUPPORT: The complexities associated

with designing, implementing, and

supporting virtual desktops are gone.

Cloud-hosted virtual desktops are easy to

buy and implement. The physical

infrastructure is already available from the

provider, and companies outsource all

deployment and operations. This saves a

significant amount of money that was

traditionally spent on physical desktop

maintenance, while minimizing the

technical expertise businesses would

otherwise need to leverage virtual

desktops. Additionally, because desktops

are delivered by a 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.

• DEVICE AND LOCATION

INDEPENDENCE: Businesses can

embrace next-gen workers by providing

device and location independence.

• 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,

datacenter challenges due to proximity

are eliminated. Users can work from

anywhere.

7

Why Cloud-hosted Virtual Desktops Make Sense (CONT’D)

• FLEXIBILITY:

• No Vendor Lock-in: With a cloud-

hosted virtual desktop solution, 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: Businesses

can quickly scale up or down by adding

or removing virtual desktops to the

monthly subscription, taking only

minutes to do so. 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 work or

quickly deploying desktops for offices in

new geographic markets.

• Geographic Agility: Corporate

datacenter footprints won’t constrain

virtual desktop deployments. Cloud-

hosted desktops can be deployed by

service providers on a global scale.

This allows users to gain access to

their virtual desktop from just about

anywhere, and businesses to expand

the regions from which they source

talent, since they are no longer limited

to corporate offices and a limited

internal infrastructure.

• Easy to Try and Buy: Because there is

no infrastructure or software to deploy,

businesses can quickly and easily try

cloud-hosted virtual desktops before

buying. This allows companies to more

clearly visualize the real-world

implications of such a powerful solution,

and quickly proceed to implementation

with minimal delays

Optimal Use Cases for Cloud-hosted Desktops

8

Businesses can realize a substantial impact

on their operations by leveraging cloud-

hosted desktops for key scenarios. Just a few

of the ideal use cases for desktops in the

cloud are.

• CLOUD SAVVY ORGANIZATIONS:

Companies are looking to leverage the

benefits of the cloud down to the employee

level. Virtualization is not just at the server

level any more.

• SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESSES:

Businesses that don’t have the endless IT

resources required to deploy and manage

physical or traditional virtual desktops.

With cloud based virtual desktops, new

users can be added quickly and easily

from anywhere and within minutes through

an intuitive, web-based secure portal.

• REMOTE WORKERS: Whether they are

telecommuting, offshore, or contracting,

virtual workers are becoming a larger

percentage of the corporate end user

population every year. With cloud-hosted

desktops, businesses can support

geographically dispersed workers in a very

cost-effective and secure manner.

Contractors can easily access the

corporate environment from their personal

devices and employees can access their

desktops when they’re 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 companies need

desktops for unique tasks or one-off

projects. For example, developers need

environments for building and testing

applications. The flexibility of cloud-hosted

desktops enables rapid scaling of desktops

to accommodate evolving needs, even just

temporarily without major infrastructure

changes or upgrades.

• WINDOWS 7 MIGRATIONS: Instead of

having to replace or upgrade desktop

computers in order to run Windows 7,

businesses can use their existing

hardware. Not only will they save money

that would have been spent on near-term

PC refreshes, with cloud-hosted desktops

they can extend the life of their existing

fleet beyond what would have been

possible. When they 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

companies have DR strategies for their

server infrastructure but not for their

desktops. However, if a disaster occurs,

the impact on end users—and the

business—can be disastrous. Cloud-

hosted virtual desktops provide a cost-

effective desktop disaster recovery solution

that can be implemented easily and

rapidly.

9

The NaviCloud® ONE Solution

NaviSite, an early provider of desktop-as-a-

service, leveraging technology from

Desktone, offers a scalable, flexible and

robust cloud-hosted virtual desktop solution

designed with enterprise needs and

requirements in mind.

NaviCloud® ONE provides businesses with a

virtual desktop that is accessible from any

device, anywhere. It has standard packaging

sizes that can be configured to meet end

users’ performance requirements, with

variables including OS, RAM, CPU, and disk

space. With NaviCloud® ONE, virtual

desktops can be up and running in days, not

months. The NaviCloud ONE solution is:

• AFFORDABLE: With no infrastructure

investment, businesses only pay for what

they need, and pricing is consistent,

enabling a predictable IT budget, with a

service that scales to your dynamic

requirements.

• SIMPLE TO DEPLOY AND MANAGE:

Managing virtual desktops is simplified

through a single, web-based, intuitive

interface. Desktops in the Cloud look and

act as part of the corporate IT

environment, even though they are

running at a secure remote datacenter.

This is because the desktops are

connected to the corporate IT

environment through a private, and

secure, network connection, and access

to the desktops is based upon the existing

Active Directory. Businesses can quickly

add, remove or modify desktops as

needed, from any location, through a

browser-based, easy to use portal.

• SIMPLE TO TRY AND BUY: Because no

infrastructure is required, businesses can

pilot a virtual desktop immediately with a

free trial or enter into a more formal

proof-of-concept, testing their own

resources in their own way.

• INSTANT ‘ON’ EXPERIENCE: Users can

stop working in one location, or on one

device, and pick up where they left off –

seamlessly.

• DEVICE AGNOSTIC: Users can access

their virtual desktops from an iPad,

iPhone, iPod Touch and Android-based

tablets and smartphones. They can also

use thin clients, or extend the life of their

current PCs for cloud access.

• DESKTOP FLEXIBILE: Desktops can be

set up for different use cases, or groups

of users, quickly and easily. The solution

presents a variety of options to tailor

performance and functionality to suit you

best, including performance, OS,

features, applications and remoting

protocol.

10

The desktop market is ripe for change.

Windows 7 migrations, new flexible business

models, the need to reduce desktop TCO,

and demand for mobile device support are

driving organizations to reevaluate their

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 impossible for many

organizations.

Cloud-hosted virtual desktops eliminate

barriers to adoption, delivering a complete

desktop from the Cloud, providing all the

benefits of VDI without the hassles.

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

onsite VDI and physical PC refreshes,

businesses benefit from a predictable, easy-

to-budget OPEX-based desktop environment.

NaviSite’s NaviCloud® ONE solution makes

it easy to take advantage of cloud-hosted

desktops. With NaviCloud® ONE, you can

accelerate and reduce the costs of Windows

7 migrations, simplify support for mobile and

departmental workers, and improve desktop

disaster recovery.

ABOUT NAVISITE

NaviSite, Inc., a Time Warner Cable

Company, is a leading international provider

of enterprise-class, cloud-enabled hosting,

managed applications and services. NaviSite

provides a full suite of reliable and scalable

managed services, including Application

Services, industry-leading Enterprise

Hosting, and Managed Cloud Services for

organizations looking to outsource IT

infrastructures and helps lower their capital

and operational costs. Enterprise customers

depend on NaviSite for customized solutions,

delivered through a global footprint of state-

of-the-art data centers. For more information

about NaviSite’s services, please visit

www.navisite.com

All logos, company and product names may be

trademarks or registered trademarks of their

respective owners.

Conclusion

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To learn about cloud services

from NaviSite, visit:

www.navisite.com