Understanding persistent vs. nonpersistent VDI

Copyright TechTarget - All rights reserved https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html Techtarget Feed Generator en Sun, 15 Mar 2026 22:27:18 GMT https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop editor@techtarget.com <div class="imagecaption alignLeft"> <img src="https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineImages/LGTS_Logo_145x115.jpg" alt="LGTS logo"> </div> There are two main types of desktops you can deploy in a virtual desktop infrastructure: persistent and nonpersistent. So, what's the difference? With persistent VDI, each user gets their own <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/definition/virtual-desktop">virtual desktop</a> -- also known as a one-to-one ratio. Nonpersistent desktops are many-to-one, meaning they are shared among end users. Each setup has its advantages and disadvantages when it comes to storage, management and customization. <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What is persistent VDI and how does it work?"> <h2 class="section-title">What is persistent VDI and how does it work?</h2> With one-to-one persistent VDI, each persistent desktop runs from a separate <a href="https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/disk-image">disk image</a>. The user's settings are saved and appear each time at login. These types of desktops allow for more <a href="https://searchenterprisedesktop.techtarget.com/definition/desktop-personalization">personalization</a> but require more storage and backup than nonpersistent desktops. <h3>Pros: Customization and familiarity</h3> It's easier to personalize persistent desktops because users can access their own data, shortcuts and files from the same dedicated desktop every time they log in. That level of familiarity may help users embrace VDI more easily because it provides consistency and customizations similar to a physical desktop. Persistent VDI may also be easier for IT admins to manage because the one-to-one setup is similar to a physical desktop deployment. <h3>Cons: Storage requirements and image management</h3> Storage can be a concern with persistent VDI. All those individual, customized disk images require more storage capacity than a single <a href="https://searchservervirtualization.techtarget.com/definition/golden-image">golden image</a> does with nonpersistent desktops. The golden image, also known as a master image, is one of several stripped-down desktops that contain only essential applications and data. User settings and customizations are stored separately as user layers, which are applied to the golden image during the virtual desktop delivery. Storage for persistent desktops is usually a separate logical drive, so it's integrated with the underlying VM, while the actual user data is stored on the desktop itself. However, some of the storage constraints that kept IT away from persistent desktops in the past have been eliminated. An additional concern is that managing numerous diverse images is more complex than managing a master image, which can be altered and updated in one stroke. <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nz9r3HxI8qI?autoplay=0&modestbranding=1&rel=0&widget_referrer=null&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What is nonpersistent VDI and how does it work?"> <h2 class="section-title">What is nonpersistent VDI and how does it work?</h2> When users access a nonpersistent desktop, none of their settings or data is saved once they log out. At the end of a session, the desktop reverts to its original state, and the user receives a fresh image the next time they log in. <h3>Pros: Image manageability, better security, less storage</h3> Since nonpersistent desktops are built from a master image, it's easier for administrators to patch and update the image, back it up quickly and deploy company-wide applications to all end users. Users can't alter desktop settings or install their own applications, making the image more secure. Plus, if the image is hacked or compromised, IT can simply reboot desktops back to a clean state. If the same instance happened with a persistent desktop, that desktop user's credentials or other sensitive data could be compromised. This setup also means there's less storage to deal with. User configuration settings and data are stored on separate hardware that's accessible remotely, such as a network share. That separates the OS from user data and allows admins to store that data on a lower-cost device. <h3>Cons: Less personalization and application flexibility</h3> With nonpersistent VDI, users cannot easily personalize their desktop. That's because nonpersistent desktops don't require dedicated user profiles to be saved and managed; in fact, some organizations deploy nonpersistent VDI so they don't have to manage distinct profiles. In some cases, the VDI setup may store profile information in a separate profile management tool. Or, IT can set user profiles to delete automatically from desktops when they're powered down, and spin up a new one from the base image on startup. Since users share a common disk image, there's a certain amount of desktop customization admins need to ensure users can access all the apps they need. Virtual desktop admins can create several golden images for this <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/microsoft-defender-atp/configure-endpoints-vdi" rel="noopener">situation</a> -- one golden image for each type of user or department based on the users' needs. IT administrators can use application management tools to deliver virtual applications as well. This technology separates virtual applications from the desktop. Once a user accesses the VM, the VDI delivers the applications in addition to the desktop. The user can then interact with the applications as if they were native to the OS. Tools in this market include Citrix App Layering, Liquidware FlexApp, Numecent Cloudpaging, Omnissa App Volumes and others. Lastly, it's important to note that not all apps lend themselves to being virtualized. Legacy applications, especially, may cause issues when organizations try to virtualize them. Editor's note: This article was republished in 2025 to improve the reader experience. Alyssa Provazza is an editorial director at Informa TechTarget. </section> Should you go with persistent or nonpersistent VDI? The choice often comes down to storage. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/keyboard_g1077903946.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/feature/Understanding-nonpersistent-vs-persistent-VDI Fri, 14 Mar 2025 13:00:00 GMT Understanding persistent vs. nonpersistent VDI Microsoft added a wide range of cloud-based features to Windows Server 2019, but the first step to the cloud can trip up admins who encounter activation problems with the server OS. Windows Server 2019 requires license activation after 180 days, otherwise the system will shut down. With multiple server workloads, it's not efficient to log in to each machine and manually activate them. There are also times when entering a valid key from the Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) will not work. Errors and key rejection can happen, often for no apparent reason. To avoid frustration with the server GUI, it's beneficial to learn how to activate the Windows Server 2019 license through alternative methods such as the command line or Key Management Services (KMS).   <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Why use Windows Server 2019?"> <h2 class="section-title">Why use Windows Server 2019?</h2> A switch to Windows Server 2022 might be a bit premature for many organizations who might prefer a more battle-tested server OS, while Windows Server 2016 might lack the more advanced functionality sought by some companies. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/tip/Optimize-Windows-Server-2019-with-file-server-best-practices">Windows Server 2019 offers important enhancements</a> and a few years of updates that should placate even the wariest of admins who prefer stability over cutting-edge features. Some advantages in Windows Server 2019 over Windows Server 2016 include: <ul class="default-list"> <li>a unified management center for both networking and ecosystem monitoring;</li> <li>scalable, expanded storage up to 64 TB, plus replication for disaster recovery;</li> <li>better performance in <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/feature/4-Windows-Server-2019-storage-features-to-ease-management">Storage Space Direct</a> -- up to two times faster according to Microsoft -- through improvements in mirror-accelerated parity; and</li> <li>cloud-based file witness sharing.</li> </ul> Perhaps most fundamentally, Windows Server 2016 was not built for hybrid environments, making data management trickier for admins. Windows Server 2019 also bakes in two modern technologies: AI and IoT support. Windows Server 2019 uses artificial intelligence for smarter predictions based on analytics. Microsoft added this feature to help admins lower operating costs. Devices on connected IoT platforms, such as servers and machines, can seamlessly share and back up data. Microsoft updated <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/answer/What-are-some-Windows-Server-2019-SDN-security-features">Server 2019's security features</a>, added better support for Linux VMs, tweaked subsystem containers for easier development and updated its <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/tip/Windows-Server-2019-RDS-updates-a-boon-for-remote-work-needs">Remote Desktop Services functionality</a>. This newest version also integrates with Windows Admin Center. But the key to unlocking all this functionality is to activate Windows Server 2019 to avoid disruptions after deployment. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Activation via the command line and Software License Manager"> <h2 class="section-title">Activation via the command line and Software License Manager</h2> Tapping into the elevated command line is a reliable way to access the Software License Manager (SLMGR), also called the Windows Software Licensing Management Tool. Interacting directly with SLMGR handles activation and access to license information. There are some potential issues that come with working via the command line. Accidental commands will typically generate an error message, but it's possible to harm the environment. Certain SLMGR parameters can also alter registry information. Double check the command before execution to avoid problems. This SLMGR uses parameters to deliver specific instructions. The parameters act like extensions and use the following format: slmgr /[parameter]. The SLMGR parameters fetch licensing information, alter licensing information and execute activation for Windows Server 2019. Here are some common SLMGR parameters: <ul class="default-list"> <li>/dli: displays basic license and activation information;</li> <li>/dlv: displays detailed license and activation information;</li> <li>/xpr: displays the expiration date of an installed license;</li> <li>/upk: uninstalls the existing license key;</li> <li>/cpky: removes license key information from the registry;</li> <li>/ipk [XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX]: changes the 25-digit license key or tries to activate the license if the provided key does not currently; and</li> <li>/ato: forces immediate online activation, which is especially useful when KMS servers or Microsoft's VLSC online activation servers aren't reachable.</li> </ul> The primary extension used with activating Windows Server 2019 is /ipk, often used if there are issues using the VLSC. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Activate Windows Server 2019 with the command line"> <h2 class="section-title">Activate Windows Server 2019 with the command line</h2> The following example command activates a license key. Navigate to the system32 folder from the command line, replace the Xs with the 25-digit license key and press Enter to execute the command: slmgr /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX A pop-up dialog box will show if the operation failed or succeeded. Microsoft recommends a server restart after a successful activation attempt. After a reboot, Server Manager will show the activated server. If a server is missing from Server Manager, there might be an activation error. Open the command line and enter the slmgr /ato command. A Windows Script Host pop-up will display an error message that explains why the Multiple Activation Key was invalid. Either use another activation key or contact Microsoft for support. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="KMS is an alternative activation method"> <h2 class="section-title">KMS is an alternative activation method</h2> Another way to handle VLSC activation is to use KMS, a client-server model for volume activation. KMS clients connect to a KMS server, also called the KMS host, on the network for activation. A KMS host can be a VM or physical machine. To activate a computer running Windows Server 2019, the KMS host must use one of the following OSes: Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016 or Windows Server 2019. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How to find and use the KMS Host license key"> <h2 class="section-title">How to find and use the KMS Host license key</h2> To set up a KMS host requires obtaining the KMS Host key. Use the following steps to activate the KMS host: <ol class="default-list"> <li>From the VLSC website, navigate to License > Relationship Summary > Click Current Active License ID > Product Keys and copy the Windows Srv 2019 DataCtr/Std KMSfrom the keys list.</li> <li>Open the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/command-prompt">command prompt</a>, type slmgr /ipk followed by the 25-digit KMS host product key and press Enter. Then, use slmgr /ato to activate the host key.</li> </ol> The server also needs the Volume Activation Services server role installed either from Server Manager or via this PowerShell command: Install-WindowsFeature -Name VolumeActivation -IncludeManagementTools The KMS host should then announce its presence on the network for KMS clients, such as a Windows Server 2019 machine. The KMS client should activate automatically, which remains valid <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/kms-activation-planning#:~:text=By%20default%2C%20KMS%20client%20computers,their%20activation%20every%20seven%20days." target="_blank" rel="noopener">for 180 days</a> until it renews the activation via the KMS host. Editor's note: This article was revised in 2024 by TechTarget editors to improve the reader experience.   </section> Running the Software License Manager from the command line or using Key Management Services for automatic activation can sidestep one hurdle to get going with Windows Server 2019. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/keyboard_g1140860048.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/tutorial/Activate-Windows-Server-2019-with-KMS-or-the-command-line Thu, 25 Jul 2024 16:32:00 GMT Activate Windows Server 2019 with KMS or the command line Let them make bots. That's the message Salesforce sent users today with the release of Einstein 1 Studio, a trio of no-code tools that enable admins and developers to build their own generative AI tools for workflows across the platform. Included in the initial release are Copilot Builder, which creates GenAI actions that perform tasks; Prompt Builder to insert custom prompts into workflows; and Model Builder, which is the on-ramp for custom data models. The <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/news/366551793/Salesforce-unveils-Einstein-1-to-embed-AI-in-every-app">Einstein 1 platform</a> is tightly integrated with <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/news/366572268/Whats-next-for-Salesforce-Einstein-AI-and-Data-Cloud">Data Cloud</a> and features tools to integrate users' data with generative AI. Interestingly, while Einstein 1 Studio is generally available, Einstein Copilot is still in beta, the company confirmed. Customers can access Einstein 1 Studio by purchasing Einstein 1 editions or by adding it on to Enterprise or Unlimited editions. Salesforce's approach to Einstein 1 Studio will be familiar to users, said Rebecca Wettemann, founder of Valoir, an IT research firm. It provides a mix of low-code and no-code tools, much like the platform's predictive analytics AI tools, as well as a more complex set of tools for developers. Some Salesforce users, such as customer service teams, might be ahead of others when it comes to early adoption use cases. "I think customer service is the obvious one because they already have the data," Wettemann said. "They already have the data in a standard format, whereas a lot of sales folks are looking at it and saying, 'Whoa, I've got to do a lot about my data hygiene in a Salesforce automation solution before I unleash [Einstein Copilots].'" While Salesforce claims it <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/news/366540885/Salesforce-unveils-AI-Cloud-with-new-Einstein-Trust-Layer">builds its AI on trust</a>, workers don't trust AI in general yet, according to Valoir's "Language Matters: AI User Perceptions" <a target="_blank" href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5db8a4995630c6238cbb4c26/t/65cc0bf858c4676b9878732a/1707871238177/Valoir+Report+-+Language+matters+-+AI+user+perceptions.pdf" rel="noopener">report</a> released last month. While 84% of workers have experimented with generative AI and 41% indicated they think it could help with search, many respondents question the tools' value versus risk. Seventeen percent of respondents said they don't believe AI can help them at work at all. Moreover, 50% of respondents said they don't like the word copilot, preferring virtual assistant instead. Only 15% said they think AI will help them jump-start a writing task. <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Salesforce bets on owned data"> <h2 class="section-title">Salesforce bets on owned data</h2> So, what can users trust? Their own data, secured within the platform, Salesforce is betting. Einstein 1 Studio users can create actions that target information inside a company's Salesforce instance and summarize it. Beta tester Andrew Russo, Salesforce architect for BACA Systems, a robotics manufacturer in Michigan, said security was the key to getting the organization to use Einstein Prompt Builder. <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/salesforce_einstein_1_studio_model_builder-f.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/salesforce_einstein_1_studio_model_builder-f_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/salesforce_einstein_1_studio_model_builder-f_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/salesforce_einstein_1_studio_model_builder-f.jpg 1280w" alt="Screenshot of Salesforce Einstein 1 Studio's Model Builder." data-credit="Salesforce" height="350" width="560"> <figcaption> For users who want to roll their own data models to power their custom Einstein Copilots, Einstein 1 Studio's Model Builder simplifies the process. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> </div> </figure> BACA's Einstein Copilots are able to plumb rich, unstructured data in sales and service records to, for example, write personalized emails for salespeople. The company also built a tool to summarize customers' historical service records for technicians as they head out to repair a machine. "It's not something super magical [that] Salesforce has done, allowing us to securely have our data," Russo said. "We have a lot of data in our org, and we have a lot of emails that are captured. [To] be able to securely understand that is really important to us, because we don't want our data going out to the public internet where other people could access it or train models off of it." While other major tech vendors offer <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/tip/Comparing-Copilot-for-Microsoft-365-vs-GitHub-Copilot">generative AI copilot tools</a>, such as Microsoft's <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/news/366559592/Microsoft-adds-more-AI-tools-to-Copilot-for-Sales-Service">Copilot for Sales</a> and Copilot for Office 365, Salesforce believes its advantage lies in the data held within its secured platform, said Clara Shih, Salesforce CEO of AI. "Microsoft has multiple different ones," Shih said. "One Einstein Copilot works across all of Salesforce -- that includes Tableau, MuleSoft [and] Slack too." Einstein uses natural language conversation, so users are able to have multi-turn conversations with the tool, she said. "And right out of the gate, when you start using Einstein Copilot, it's already knowledgeable and aware of all the data [and] all the business processes in that customer's Salesforce organization," Shih said. Einstein 1 Studio was released in conjunction with the TrailblazerDX <a target="_blank" href="https://www.salesforce.com/trailblazerdx/" rel="noopener">conference</a>, often referred to as TDX, for admins and developers, held March 6-7 in San Francisco. Shih said Salesforce admins, developers and consultants have either earned more than a million AI-related <a target="_blank" href="https://trailhead.salesforce.com/content/learn/trails/build-ai-assistants-with-einstein-copilot/?d=cta-body-promo-8" rel="noopener">badges</a> on its free technical education site, Trailhead, or the community is very close to passing that milestone. Don Fluckinger is a senior news writer for TechTarget Editorial. He covers customer experience, digital experience management and end-user computing. Got a tip? <a href="mailto:dfluckinger@techtarget.com?subject=Tip%20from%20article%20">Email him</a>. </section> Salesforce admins and developers can build custom generative AI assistants for workflows across the platform for sales, service, marketing and e-commerce. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/toolGearArrow_g1159416182.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/news/366572455/Salesforce-users-empowered-to-build-no-code-Einstein-Copilots Wed, 06 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT Salesforce users empowered to build no-code Einstein Copilots News that Broadcom intends to sell VMware's End-User Computing business unit, which consists of VMware Horizon, VMware App Volumes and VMware Workspace ONE, to private equity firm KKR raises a number of questions. Though I've tracked the EUC space for decades and even <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/Broadcom-intends-to-divest-VMware-EUC-Whats-next">wrote about the expected sale</a>, it's difficult to form a complete opinion on events like this in such a short time, but I want to share some of the thoughts and questions that have come to mind since reading the news. In short, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/366571378/Broadcom-to-sell-VMware-EUC-division-to-KKR-for-38B">this deal</a> feels different than <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252512699/Tibco-Citrix-to-merge-after-Citrix-acquired-by-Vista">Vista Equity Partner's acquisition of Citrix</a> in 2022, even though both deals involve a private equity firm. While it's easy to take the doom-and-gloom approach -- there are, after all, a lot of questions that the new version of VMware EUC will have to answer very quickly -- it's entirely possible that this could wind up being a good thing all around. One of the first questions surrounding the news is, who is KKR? The global firm has an extremely diverse <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kkr.com/invest/portfolio" rel="noopener">portfolio of investments</a> and acquisitions and is famous for its acquisition of RJR Nabisco in the late 1980s.   While they don’t appear to be super active in end-user computing, they have one extremely notable property in Alludo, which is the parent company of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/definition/Parallels">Parallels</a>.   Parallels makes a desktop virtualization platform called Parallels RAS, as well as Parallels Desktop, which is the only client hypervisor that Microsoft supports to run Windows in a virtual machine on a Mac. While there’s no mention of Parallels in the press release, this connection is noteworthy. More on that later.   <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="KKR-VMware EUC vs. Vista-Citrix"> <h2 class="section-title">KKR-VMware EUC vs. Vista-Citrix </h2> It's easy to look at this deal and compare it to Citrix's acquisition by Vista and Evergreen Coast Capital to form Cloud Software Group. You might think, "VMware EUC got sold to a private equity firm. We know how this is going to go." The assumption is mass layoffs and huge product and operational changes. While any acquisition like this is bound to bring change, the degree of that change depends on the business and the circumstances that led to the transaction. With that in mind, let's look at a few key elements of the Citrix and VMware EUC deals, starting with why they happened in the first place. <h3>VMware EUC was stranded</h3> Broadcom showed zero interest in VMware's EUC business during the lengthy run-up to closing the acquisition deal in November 2023. At around $2 billion in revenue, EUC was a small piece of the overall pie and it simply never had a home at Broadcom. Sure, if it had been insanely profitable they might have been more inclined to keep it, but the reality is, VMware EUC never fit into Broadcom's core plans. That is the primary reason it is being sold off. At Citrix, activist investors spent years acquiring seats on the board and forcing countless changes across the organization. They aimed to make it more profitable and prepare it for acquisition. They eventually took complete control and sold the company off to a private equity firm with the ultimate goal of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/news/252529104/Thousands-of-Citrix-Tibco-employees-laid-off-following-merger">stripping the company down</a> to nuts and bolts. They even hired former Broadcom executive Tom Krause, known for his strict devotion to the bottom line when onboarding acquired companies, as CEO of the newly-formed Cloud Software Group. <h3>Citrix was acquired for 4-times what VMware EUC sold for</h3> VMware EUC is being sold for $3.8 billion -- less than a quarter of the value of the Citrix deal, which clocked in at $16.5 billion. Citrix had more revenue, of course, but are there other reasons there is such a huge difference? More importantly, what does that mean for VMware EUC? First, the entire goal of the Citrix deal was for investors to maximize their investments in Citrix. In fact, they spent many <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/feature/Citrix-cloud-services-CEO-stability-are-keys-to-future-success">years repositioning it</a> as a security company, or a cloud-first company, or as a data and analytics company, trying to find the right suitor. Broadcom, on the other hand, was left holding the bag on VMware EUC, a business unit its leaders didn't want. They were incentivized to move fast and get rid of it. It's also worth considering that the financial market is quite different today than when Citrix was acquired, with money being harder to come by since interest rates are higher -- but I'm not going to pretend to know anything more than that. Second, Citrix brought with it a lot of other intellectual property -- and technical baggage -- which was immediately addressed by parsing the company into separate business units that could no longer depend on subsidies from the core Citrix desktop virtualization business. The price tag for Citrix included Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, but also Endpoint Management, XenServer, NetScaler and ShareFile, among others. Alternatively, VMware EUC is easier to unravel, even though there are some dependencies on vSphere and the VMware Cloud Foundation ecosystem that need to be addressed. While Horizon being tied to vSphere was a good thing at one point, it certainly has an effect on the overall value of VMware EUC as a standalone product. <h3>Different transactions, different expectations</h3> Nevertheless, the relative acquisition costs for Citrix and VMware EUC translate to different expectations from their investors. Cloud Software Group no doubt has high expectations to deliver a return on the $16.5 billion that Vista and Evergreen contributed to buy Citrix -- not to mention the $4.3 billion they paid to acquire TIBCO, which merged into Cloud Software Group. Short of a manifold increase in revenue, the only way to get a return on that investment is to drastically cut operational costs. VMware EUC, on the other hand, brings an estimated $2 billion in revenue into a new company that was purchased for just $3.8 billion, which means the pressure from KKR to recoup their investment is likely going to be far less than what Citrix has experienced. This, coupled with the relatively uncomplicated collection of intellectual property that VMware EUC brings to the table compared to Citrix, makes it conceivable that, with minimal touch -- at least compared to other deals -- VMware EUC can be a valuable piece of KKR's portfolio, and maybe even go public again. That said, there are some complications that come with separating VMware EUC from the rest of VMware, so let's take a look at those. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Burning questions"> <h2 class="section-title">Burning questions</h2> While there will certainly be more questions in the coming weeks and months, three things come to mind that VMware EUC leaders need to address as fast as possible to keep customers and partners comfortable, show that this next chapter will be exciting and to maintain momentum. <h3>What will happen with Horizon licensing that includes vSphere?</h3> Most often, Horizon is sold with an stock-keeping unit (SKU) that includes VMware vSphere Desktop, meaning a Horizon customer does not need to buy any additional vSphere licenses for the purposes of delivering virtual apps and desktops. This will have to change when VMware EUC becomes a separate company. What does this mean for customers and partners, many of whom are already frustrated with the <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366563072/Broadcom-drops-VMware-perpetual-licences-and-support">changes Broadcom is making to vSphere licensing</a>? What can VMware EUC leaders do to assuage concerns from customers that are worried they'll have to pay significantly more for the combination of Horizon and vSphere than they had to pay when vSphere was part of Horizon? No doubt, it's something they are thinking about already. SKUs already exist that do not include vSphere Desktop. Some customers run workloads natively in Azure or on vSphere environments where the vSphere licenses are already purchased as part of an enterprise agreement or are built into the service -- like with Azure VMware Solution or VMware Cloud on AWS. So, in a way, we already know what Horizon costs without vSphere. The question then becomes "What will the vSphere cost be?" In the short term, I'd expect an explanation from the new company on how this will be handled. Hopefully they've already worked out a deal with Broadcom to minimize the impact on customers. Longer term -- but not too long -- I expect to see Horizon decoupled entirely from vSphere. Customers might still have the best overall experience when its used with vSphere, but I expect the existing momentum of running Horizon on native cloud workloads to extend to other on-premises or hybrid hypervisors, too. <h3>How will VMware EUC's platform purchases and partnerships change?</h3> Historically, Horizon and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/definition/VMware-Workspace-ONE">Workspace ONE</a> have been sold as platforms for customers to invest in. This results in a more or less zero-sum situation where if you invest in Horizon, you're likely not invested in any other platform, or if you're a Workspace ONE customer, you're not using <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/tip/SCCM-vs-Intune-A-closer-look-at-the-capabilities-of-each">Intune or SCCM</a>. While there have been some alliances over the years, such as Horizon Cloud and Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), even that doesn't mean Horizon runs in AVD -- it just means that customers can access the features of AVD when they deploy their own instance of the Horizon Cloud platform. Contrast this to Citrix or <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitchannel/post/Nerdios-strategy-evolves-for-cloud-desktop-Azure-markets">Nerdio</a>, each of which partners more closely with Microsoft in various ways. One of the reasons for this, I think, is that VMware Cloud Foundation was a common thread running throughout the company. That will no longer matter when VMware EUC is a separate company. Does that mean that Horizon and Workspace ONE -- and, to a lesser extent, App Volumes -- will be freer to integrate and cooperate directly with alliance partners? Or will the coopetition vibe remain? I suspect the answer here is "all of the above," at least for the time being. Horizon has a lot to offer that customers could benefit from if it was sold as a sort of add-on or overlay on top of other platforms, rather than as a platform itself. Perhaps this will happen as part of its decoupling from vSphere. I plan on writing about this in a future article, so stay tuned for more on that. <h3>The Parallels Connection </h3> While I missed this at first, the fact that KKR also owns Alludo, the company that owns brands like Corel, WinZip and most importantly, Parallels, is very interesting. It’s worth emphasizing, though, that the press release made no mention of Parallels, and stated very clearly -- and perhaps carefully -- that, “Upon closing of the transaction, the EUC Division will become a standalone company.”  With that in mind, we can probably close the book on VMware EUC joining Alludo, but the possibility remains that Parallels could be sold to the new, standalone company. Again, no mention of this was made, but it’s easy to see the alignment. I plan on digging into this more in the coming weeks.  <h3>New company, new name, new brand</h3> Finally, though I've been using the name VMware EUC throughout this article, the reality is that there's a new name and brand coming. I've recently written about <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/Alternatives-to-Citrix-Microsoft-and-VMware-for-remote-work">22 other vendors</a> in the desktop virtualization space and many of the names on <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/11-more-alternative-desktop-and-app-virtualization-vendors">those lists</a> are new to people. To keep momentum, raise awareness and increase confidence, the new VMware EUC will have to hit the market with a loud, strong message about the future of the company and the product lines. As usual, I feel like there are more questions than answers, but I can't help feeling different about VMware EUC's situation than I did about what happened to Citrix. While at the highest of levels, the fact that two companies that were stalwarts of the VDI landscape throughout the 2000s and 2010s are no longer what they used to be is interesting, but that's more a sign of the times and the changing tides of IT than anything else. When you take a closer look, VMware EUC's journey to private equity couldn't be more different than Citrix's. And though we can expect some changes and cuts as we would with any other acquisition, I get the sense that VMware EUC's path is different than Citrix's, and that there's a light at the end of the tunnel that isn't an oncoming train. Gabe Knuth is the senior end-user computing analyst for TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group. He writes publicly for TechTarget in addition to his analyst work. If you'd like to reach out, see his profile on LinkedIn or send an email to gabe.knuth@esg-global.com. Enterprise Strategy Group is a division of TechTarget. Its analysts have business relationships with technology vendors. </section> Broadcom's sale of VMware EUC to private equity firm KKR will likely mean big changes, but the deal shouldn't be compared to Citrix's sale to Vista. Here's why. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/iot_g1182604383.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/First-thoughts-on-VMware-EUC-sale-to-private-equity-firm-KKR Tue, 27 Feb 2024 10:00:00 GMT First thoughts on VMware EUC sale to private equity firm KKR Chip vendor Broadcom plans to sell VMware's end-user computing division to private equity firm KKR for $3.8 billion later this year. Broadcom <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/news/366560755/Broadcom-completes-VMware-acquisition-promises-investment">acquired VMware late last year</a> for $61 billion after a long period of international regulatory scrutiny. Since then, the company has worked to recoup its VMware acquisition costs through streamlining product lines, <a target="_blank" href="https://news.vmware.com/company/vmware-by-broadcom-business-transformation" rel="noopener">ending</a> perpetual licenses for a number of products, and selling off lower-revenue pieces including the EUC division and -- to come -- <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/What-happens-to-VMware-EUC-and-Carbon-Black-under-Broadcom">VMware's security division</a> that includes Carbon Black. "The [product] diversification attempts by VMware were always questionable," said Holger Mueller, an analyst at Constellation Research. "It's clear they didn't make any sense because otherwise [Broadcom] wouldn't be selling it off. There would be certain synergies." The EUC Division -- which includes flagship products Workspace One and Horizon virtual desktops -- will continue to be overseen by VMware's current management team led by Shankar Iyer, KKR said. <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Virtual desktop growth potential"> <h2 class="section-title">Virtual desktop growth potential</h2> <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/VMware-EUC-is-now-Omnissa-What-we-know-so-far">KKR's acquisition of VMware EUC</a> tools could lead to some confusion regarding licensing for customers that are entitled to vSphere as part of the Horizon license. Users might have to worry about pricing changes as they will be dealing with two companies, said Gabe Knuth, an analyst at TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group. Before and after Broadcom's acquisition, VMware worked to make Horizon and Workspace One function natively not just in VMware's cloud, but in Microsoft Azure, AWS and other environments. Analysts expect the tools to become even more flexible as KKR seeks to grow its customer base en route to possibly going public with VMware EUC or reselling it. While it might be tempting to compare KKR's acquisition of VMware EUC to its rival Citrix's <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252512699/Tibco-Citrix-to-merge-after-Citrix-acquired-by-Vista">acquisition by Vista Equity Partners in 2022</a>, Knuth said that deal was much more complicated. It was more than four times larger at $16.5 billion, Vista acquired much more technology, and the sell-off was driven by activist investors. With fewer moving parts to the VMware properties and the retention of senior leadership, KKR could find a smoother path to revenues. "It's conceivable that, with minimal touch -- at least compared to Citrix -- VMware EUC can be a valuable piece of KKR's portfolio, maybe even eventually going public again," Knuth said. <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/AC0317_p5g1.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/AC0317_p5g1_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/AC0317_p5g1_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/AC0317_p5g1.jpg 1280w" alt="Diagram of how end-user workspaces work." height="241" width="560"> <figcaption> Device-agnostic workspace suites, such as those from VMware's EUC division, give employees a consistent digital working environment wherever they log in. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> </div> </figure> A number of tech trend analysis firms project virtual desktop growth of more than 10% in the coming years as more companies use the technology to deliver computing resources to remote employees. Mueller said he believes desktop virtualization and digital workspaces still have a lot of growth potential. Though the technologies have not taken off as many industry observers thought they might over the years, industries such as healthcare are moving toward stateless -- or device-independent -- desktops for employees who can work from a phone, tablet or laptop depending on their physical work environment. "As long as the performance is there, as an employee, you don't care what is running under the hood," Mueller said. Further, virtualization gives IT departments more control over the applications their remote workers use, and makes upgrading apps and security more straightforward, he continued. Virtual desktops can <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/feature/VDI-hardware-comparison-Thin-vs-thick-vs-zero-clients">run on devices such as Chromebooks and thin clients</a> that cost less than traditional PCs. The benefits could mean that desktop virtualization, which has been around since the 1960s, still has a chance to grab significantly more market share. Don Fluckinger is a senior news writer for TechTarget Editorial. He covers customer experience, digital experience management and end-user computing. Got a tip? <a href="mailto:dfluckinger@techtarget.com?subject=Tip%20from%20article%20">Email him</a>. </section> Customers that pair VMware's hypervisor with Horizon and Workspace One desktops might feel licensing jitters, but the deal could lead to more flexibility. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/iot_g1182604383.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/366571378/Broadcom-to-sell-VMware-EUC-division-to-KKR-for-38B Mon, 26 Feb 2024 17:28:00 GMT Broadcom to sell VMware EUC division to KKR for $3.8B A while back, I wrote about how the power dynamic at the top of the desktop virtualization landscape has shifted, with Microsoft moving into the driver's seat after years of letting VMware and Citrix duke it out alone. This, coupled with the globally increased demand for remote work and corporate instability at Citrix and VMware, has led to opportunities for lesser-known desktop virtualization platforms to increase their mind -- and market -- share. While I'm certain that I'm missing a few, let's take a moment to get familiar with the other players in the desktop virtualization and desktop as a service (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/definition/desktop-as-a-service-DaaS">DaaS</a>) market. There are some common threads throughout this list: <ul class="default-list"> <li>Customers will have limited options for Microsoft Office when using a non-Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)-based platform. Office is still available as a perpetual license, and other options, such as Dizzion, are outlined below. As a Qualified Multitenant Hoster (QMTH), Dizzion can <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/tip/How-to-decide-on-what-Office-365-add-on-licenses-to-use">deliver Office 365</a> in a consumption model.</li> <li>Most, if not all, of these vendors are finding success attracting dissatisfied Citrix, VMware and Microsoft customers, or those that have simpler use cases. Many I spoke with mentioned that customers would try to use AVD out of the box, only to reconsider when they needed more advanced capabilities. To be clear, this is the way it's always been. Every time Microsoft put out a new version of Remote Desktop Services (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/definition/Remote-Desktop-Services-RDS">RDS</a>), customers wondered if they could finally ditch Citrix, VMware or whomever.</li> </ul> Here is the list, in alphabetical order rather than any ranking or sequence, of the companies covered in this article: <ul class="default-list"> <li>Amazon Workspaces Core.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/tip/How-to-deploy-Office-productivity-apps-on-Chromebooks">Cameyo</a>.</li> <li>Dizzion.</li> <li>Ericom.</li> <li>Frame.</li> <li>HP Anyware (formerly Teradici CAS).</li> <li>Inuvika.</li> <li>Leostream.</li> <li>Nerdio.</li> <li>Parallels.</li> <li>Workspot.</li> </ul> There's little doubt that I've left someone out, so if you're in that boat, check out my contact details below and let's chat! <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Amazon Workspaces Core"> <h2 class="section-title">Amazon Workspaces Core</h2> Amazon Workspaces was never really viewed as a compelling option for large enterprise organizations because it represented a shift in approaches and didn't integrate well with existing platforms, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/answer/How-do-you-use-forklift-migration-to-move-VMs-to-the-cloud">requiring a forklift migration</a>. Plus, along the way, customers also had to deal with licensing issues around some Microsoft products. Today, that's changing. While Amazon Workspaces still exists with what I think is probably the closest thing to true desktop as a service -- in that I give you a credit card, you give me a desktop -- exciting developments are happening around a platform called Amazon Workspaces Core. Released late 2022, Workspaces Core represents a way to integrate your existing VDI environments with AWS, which lets you locate workloads wherever you want in a true hybrid cloud manner without performing a rip-and-replace migration. This approach enables customers to migrate to the cloud at their own pace. While the licensing challenges still apply if you want to use Microsoft products, not every organization is so Microsoft-dependent that they need to move to Azure, and Amazon -- among other vendors -- can offer competitive pricing and services that even the playing field. <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/virt_desktop-vdi_vs_daas-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/virt_desktop-vdi_vs_daas-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/virt_desktop-vdi_vs_daas-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/virt_desktop-vdi_vs_daas-f.png 1280w" alt="A graphic comparing the differences between VDI and DaaS" height="247" width="560"> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Cameyo"> <h2 class="section-title">Cameyo</h2> As organizations migrate the low-hanging-fruit Windows apps to a cloud or SaaS service, overall dependency on Windows, "the desktop," is weakening. The reality is that even if we reach some tipping point where we no longer need Windows for its "desktopiness," we're still going to need to run Windows apps. And to run Windows apps, we need some version of Windows. This is why Cameyo's approach is interesting. They've eschewed the desktop altogether, focusing on delivering remote access to Windows apps -- and only the apps. Users can access apps from any browser, but they also have a tight relationship with Google that lets them integrate Chrome. They can also deliver remote applications as a progressive web app (<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/progressive-web-app-PWA">PWA</a>) so they can run standalone -- kind of like a seamless window -- instead of in a browser tab. Customers can deploy this on premises on their own, but from what I can tell, the real value comes from using Cameyo's managed service. A fully hosted desktop running on Cameyo-managed infrastructure that costs $30 per user, per month includes RDS Client Access Licenses and cloud consumption, and a self-hosted option runs $12 per user, per month. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Dizzion"> <h2 class="section-title">Dizzion</h2> Dizzion has been on my radar since at least 2017, and though its roots are that of an MSP focused on business process outsourcing, today it is a full-fledged desktop-as-a-service platform with a global presence. Dizzion uses homegrown technology -- like its Cosmos Control Center (C3) and ZLink, a PC-thin client repurposing tool -- along with deep integrations with partners such as VMware and IBM to deliver everything customers need to support a remote workforce. Dizzion has customers from all walks of life -- healthcare, finance, insurance, education and others -- but it excels at business process outsourcing, helping organizations communicate directly with customers via remote, cloud-based workspaces. Dizzion is also in the unique position of being a Microsoft QMTH, which allows it to sell both Windows and Office 365 licensing on a consumption basis -- which is not always possible with other providers. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Ericom"> <h2 class="section-title">Ericom</h2> Ericom was once a driving force behind HTML5-based access to remote desktops and applications. While Ericom continues to sell desktop virtualization platform PowerTerm WebConnect, HTML5 application access platform AccessNow, and its terminal emulation software, Ericom's focus these days appears to be on its ZTEdge Secure Access Service Edge, Remote Browser Isolation and Web Application Isolation products. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Frame"> <h2 class="section-title">Frame</h2> If you followed Frame's progress through the years, you'll know it came on the scene as a 100% cloud-managed desktop virtualization platform that could deliver graphically intensive workloads to HTML5 browser-based clients. Though its acquisition by Nutanix in 2018 validated its approach to desktop virtualization and the underlying technology, the acquisition had the unintentional and untrue effect of linking the two platforms together. In reality, Frame lets you deploy desktops from anywhere -- on premises or in the cloud -- using Nutanix, AWS, Azure or Google Cloud Platform. Frame's focus revolves around simple, browser-based access to Windows desktops and applications using their custom-made, WebRTC-based protocol that requires no plugins or clients. Since it has been a cloud-based platform from day one, deployment is designed to be as streamlined as possible. The platform supports delivering packages as PWAs, and -- along with Citrix, VMware and Cameyo -- is among the only four Chrome Enterprise Recommended partners. in 2023, Dizzion acquired Frame from Nutanix, with details about their plans yet to come. Frame constantly adds new features, like browser-based <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/definition/single-sign-on">single sign-on</a> with support for Active Directory-joined VMs, backup and recovery, and support for Google Cloud Platform. Plus, it is one of the few companies that can direct you to a live customer environment any time it wants: Build-A-Bear Workshop. If you want to see how Frame helped Build-A-Bear customers design bears during the COVID-19 lockdown, check out its <a href="https://www.buildabear.com/bear-builder-3d-workshop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">3D Workshop</a>. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="HP Anyware (formerly Teradici CAS)"> <h2 class="section-title">HP Anyware (formerly Teradici CAS)</h2> Teradici built a reputation for meeting the demands of organizations that operate highly accurate, graphically intense workloads, such as those in engineering, military and broadcasting. In fact, Teradici won an Engineering Emmy for their efforts in broadcasting and media production. Before the acquisition, HP was no stranger to these fields, having operated the Remote Graphics Software (RGS) product for many years. Adding Teradici and its <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/definition/PCoIP-PC-over-IP">PC-over-IP</a> protocol allows HP to continue to service those use cases while adding a mature desktop virtualization platform to support hybrid work for a broader range of users. Of course, it also blends nicely with HP's thin client business. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Inuvika"> <h2 class="section-title">Inuvika</h2> While new to me and most folks in North America, Inuvika has seen much of its business come from South America and South Africa, where it's had success with education, government and telecom organizations. Based on a hypervisor-agnostic, fully Linux back end that can be deployed on premises or in the cloud, Inuvika is a low-cost alternative to other more traditional platforms that organizations can choose. The vendor has web-based management that aims to be simple enough so that organizations with little IT staff or experience can still stand up and deliver a remote desktop environment. The product has some built-in app and profile management capabilities, and everything is session-based, so there's no VDI. You can still publish desktops. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Leostream"> <h2 class="section-title">Leostream</h2> There's a world beyond RDP, HDX and Blast Extreme -- one with protocol names that seem otherworldly, like RGS, TGX, Scyld, NICE DCV and NX. This is the world that Leostream lives in, and it's where this vendor has existed for nearly 20 years. You probably haven't heard of Leostream, especially if you're a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/tip/VMware-vs-Citrix-Which-is-better-for-your-organization">dedicated Citrix or VMware Horizon customer</a>. Where VMware, Citrix and Microsoft are focused on the 80% of users out there in the world, Leostream is the virtual desktop and app broker for everyone else. Leostream is completely agnostic, a trait that lets it add a fourth "any" to their list: any desktop or app, to any user, on any device, with any protocol. It also helps with image provisioning and integrates with cloud providers, VMware and OpenStack. Leostream customers are often high tech or have demanding workloads with specialized remote graphics needs, like oil and gas, finance, engineering, multimedia, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/CAD-computer-aided-design">computer-aided design</a>, computer-aided manufacturing and more. In some situations, the use case is more about remote access to high-performance physical workstations than centralized desktops and apps. As you can imagine, the pandemic proved to be a big deal for Leostream, especially in media and broadcasting. Leostream even won an Emmy in 2022 for its work in creating secure remote production environments. That's two Emmys on this list if you're keeping score. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Nerdio"> <h2 class="section-title">Nerdio</h2> Nerdio is interesting because, while most of the other vendors on this list have a platform they've built more or less from scratch, Nerdio has hitched its wagon to Azure Virtual Desktop. The vendor has built two offerings that are effectively a comprehensive set of advanced tools that can be used by customers or MSPs to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/tip/Azure-Virtual-Desktop-requirements-customizations-and-more">more effectively deliver AVD-based desktops</a> and applications. Don't let the fact that this is built on AVD fool you; Nerdio has been around for a long time as a DaaS provider and MSP, with roots that date back to 2010 and beyond. Nerdio Manager for Enterprise can simplify the management and deployment of AVD environments, so customers don't need to be Azure experts. Plus, it can optimize storage and resource consumption to lower Azure consumption costs. Essentially, it's the middle ground between native AVD and a separate platform. This works for Nerdio, but it puts the vendor in a risky position if Microsoft were to develop the same functionality that Nerdio offers. The pressure, then, is on Nerdio to continue innovating, and with a recently closed round of funding, I expect Nerdio to continue its growth. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Parallels"> <h2 class="section-title">Parallels</h2> Parallels, known equally for desktop virtualization and their macOS-based client hypervisor that lets you run Windows, Linux, macOS or other OSes as virtual machines on Macs, has been going through some changes over the last few years. First, Corel acquired Parallel in 2018 -- yes, the same Corel of CorelDraw, WordPerfect and PaintShop Pro fame. In 2022, Corel changed its name to Alludo -- pronounced ah-loo-doh although the name originates from text-speak "All U Do" -- but the respective product line names under the Alludo umbrella remain the same. Parallels has seen growth over the past few years helping AVD customers configure their environments without touching the Azure portal. By using Parallels RAS with on-premises and AVD-based workloads, customers have been able to stand up hybrid environments rather than migrating lock, stock and barrel from one platform to another. They offer autoscaling, simplified management, support for managing MSIX app attach and FSLogix configuration and more. Plus, it has a very simple licensing model: just one fixed price per concurrent user per year that gets you everything Parallels offers. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Workspot"> <h2 class="section-title">Workspot</h2> Among the longest-tenured companies in this list, Workspot has built its own platform from the ground up to deliver a managed service for customers. This is especially true for those that tried to do it on their own in the early days of the pandemic and now need to make their desktop virtualization practices more sustainable from a cost and efficiency perspective. Workspot has been particularly successful in helping customers with GPU-intensive workloads such as architectural, engineering and construction. Many Azure customers are familiar with the challenge of finding providers that they can use to burn down their Azure credits. Workspot shines in this area with a flexible pricing model where customers have the option to pay Workspot directly for all costs -- Workspot and cloud consumption -- or to separate the Workspot and Azure bills so that customers can use their Azure credits. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Conclusion"> <h2 class="section-title">Conclusion</h2> Each product listed here is positioned for growth in the near future, both because of disruption at the top end of the market and the overall growth of desktop virtualization usage in organizations. With Citrix's dust hopefully settling and VMware's just kicking up, most eyes are on Microsoft. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/Analyzing-the-chaos-in-the-desktop-virtualization-market">Despite its rise to the top</a>, there are always opportunities to extend, optimize or outright compete that will leave the window open for one or more of these platforms to ascend to that upper tier. Editor's note. These tools were selected using the analyst's more than 25 years of experience covering the virtual desktop industry. The list was further curated based on their prominence in the virtual desktop market and position as alternatives to Citrix, Microsoft and VMware. Gabe Knuth is the End User Computing Analyst for TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group. He writes publicly for TechTarget in addition to his analyst work. If you'd like to reach out, see his profile on LinkedIn or send an email to gabe.knuth@esg-global.com. </section> Many organizations will go with remote and virtual desktop services from Citrix, Microsoft and VMware, but there are many alternatives on the market. Check out these 11 vendors. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/wfh_a334521469.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/Alternatives-to-Citrix-Microsoft-and-VMware-for-remote-work Thu, 04 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT VDI alternatives to Citrix and VMware for remote work Amazon came to the thin client party this week when it introduced the Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client. But as cloud computing becomes the norm and chips become more powerful by the month, it's time to revisit an ages-old question: Can we now, finally, get rid of our work laptops? Spoiler alert: Experts replied with a resounding "no," for the most part. Gartner analyst Sid Nag offered an "it depends," <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/366561214/AWSs-remote-work-gambit-Amazon-WorkSpaces-Thin-Client">with caveats</a>. But methinks we are getting closer. Cloud application deployments, the engines that drive <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/thin-client">thin clients</a>, are de rigueur. Even slow CPUs can work fast when a remote server does the data processing. These trends might pave the way for a laptop-less future just beyond the horizon. Forrester Research analyst Andrew Hewitt said for that to happen, always-on connectivity will have to become a reality for providers, not just a goal. Also, new interfaces must emerge, such as voice input or wearables, that will enable workers to shed the mouse and keyboard and work more efficiently -- with less hardware. "The interaction mode is going to have to change [and] the networking capabilities will have to be much more ubiquitous going forward if we're talking about a full laptop replacement," Hewitt said. Today, thin clients can replace laptops for some workers, provided the connectivity is there. "It serves a really good use case for a lot of businesses," Hewitt said. "If you have a great internet connection, the platforms are advanced enough that it is pretty much indistinguishable from a laptop experience. You're going to be able to have the computing power that you need, have access to all the applications, and you can run it on any operating system." <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/virtual_desktop-pc_vs_thin_clients-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/virtual_desktop-pc_vs_thin_clients-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/virtual_desktop-pc_vs_thin_clients-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/virtual_desktop-pc_vs_thin_clients-f.png 1280w" alt="PCs vs. thin clients comparison chart." height="196" width="560"> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> </div> </figure> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Laptops a heavy burden"> <h2 class="section-title">Laptops a heavy burden</h2> In the early '90s, some workers, including my own bosses, had to schlep around early Macintosh SE/30s -- with that heavy, built-in glass picture-tube monitor -- in a bag. The rig topped 20 pounds, counting the keyboard and mouse. Some others lugged IBM and Compaq "portable" <a target="_blank" href="https://www.silicon.co.uk/mobility/compaq-luggable-portable-computers-208323" rel="noopener">pre-laptops</a> in their aluminum cases, which weighed more than 30 pounds. As a cub reporter, thankfully, I was too low on my employer's org chart to deserve one of these $5,000 boat anchors. Notebooks -- the paper kind -- and pens were so much lighter. Until a few years ago, carrying a work laptop around was as fun as carrying a box of rocks, and it still kind of is. Apple impressed us with the 4.4-pound Duo in the 1990s, because everything else the average person -- or business -- could afford weighed more. Today's touchscreen ultrabooks from HP, Asus, Dell, Lenovo and others make the Duos look burdensome in comparison. Often made with tough, lightweight aircraft-aluminum chassis and weighing 2.5 pounds, ultrabooks also typically come equipped with terabyte solid-state drives that supplant heavier hard drives. But ultrabooks represent the state-of-the-art consumer or executive laptops. They're too high-end and expensive to deploy for the enterprise rank and file. Chances are, if you work from home, it's on a workhorse Dell Latitude laptop, pervasive in the business world, or one of its Lenovo or HP cousins. It likely weighs upward of 3 or even 5 pounds, with its plastic case and hard drive, like the 1990s Duos. They are designed to run forever with minimal IT maintenance, not to save our rotator cuffs as we run through airports on business trips. Manufacturers such as Microsoft, Dell, Lenovo and HP have also released hybrid tablet-PCs. Some have tablets that detach from the keyboard (called detachables), and some don't (convertibles). The tablets typically run on Windows or Android. These devices appear to be catching on in verticals where work is split between desk and other locations, such as healthcare; hospital caregivers can take the tablet on the go and connect back to the keyboard to update patient files at their desks. Detachables and convertibles look interesting, but are uncommon in most business settings. If you dumped truth serum down the gullet of an IT buyer and asked them why, they'd probably list the usual reasons: They cost too much, they require different or additional maintenance, or they don't serve a business need the workhorses already fill. What those of us who want to ditch the laptop need is a lightweight, secure touchscreen tablet loaded with all our work-mandatory apps. At home, we need a thin client that can drive a monitor or two, a keyboard, and a mouse. Better yet, something ultralight but ultracheap compared with ultrabooks. Best of all, a device that does both. Is that really too much to ask? No, it's not, Gartner's Nag said. He expects Google to release a Chromebook-based thin client device that works on Google Workspace, and for Microsoft to release a similar thin client Surface that works with Microsoft 365. They might not be called thin clients, but definitions blur as technology marches on. Effectively, they and the Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client will perform the same <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/tip/What-types-of-management-are-available-for-thin-client-OSes">thin client jobs</a>. Dell and HP both offer thin client hardware. With Amazon stirring the pot with its tiny-in-comparison device based on the Fire TV Cube, expect those sleeping hardware giants to catch up and release something smaller and nimbler than what they offer now. <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/aws_thin_client-f.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/aws_thin_client-f_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/aws_thin_client-f_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/aws_thin_client-f.jpg 1280w" alt="Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client connected to two monitors." data-credit="AWS" height="315" width="558"> <figcaption> Tell me you wouldn't rather have a little Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client cube for your home office -- powerful enough to drive a two-monitor setup -- than a workhorse laptop and docking station? </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> </div> </figure> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="AWS thin client begins the next phase"> <h2 class="section-title">AWS thin client begins the next phase</h2> The Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client has a lot of pros for IT teams: They're small, secure, easy to commission and decommission. They're way cheaper than laptops, so if one gets damaged or doesn't get returned, there's less capital to lose. They can be fully controlled -- think updates, identity provisioning, apps -- from the server side. They are more secure than laptops for a number of reasons: Most importantly, end users store no data whatsoever on them. The Amazon thin client has the mixed advantage and disadvantage of being tethered to the AWS cloud and Amazon WorkSpaces. That's a good thing for newer SMBs that run their businesses on that particular cloud. But Amazon WorkSpaces is only used by about 1% of businesses, more or less depending on who's counting. In comparison, market researchers mostly agree Google and Microsoft own about 66% to 70% of the collaborative workspace market. Seventy other companies including AWS battle for the remaining share. Thin clients in general have problems that need to be ironed out, beginning with limited processor power in a technology environment that requires -- or soon will require -- <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/definition/edge-AI">edge AI</a> processing. That would seem to be the antithesis of "thin." <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gctocRTgq-U?autoplay=0&modestbranding=1&rel=0&widget_referrer=null&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> Then there are the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/RISC-reduced-instruction-set-computer">RISC chips</a> that Qualcomm, Microsoft and Nvidia are developing. RISC processors already handle the computing for your smartphone, your tablet and your car's computer. But Windows is a whole different animal; it requires heavy computing, and its architecture doesn't lend itself to RISC chips -- and likely will never, said longtime enterprise chip observers including Gartner analyst Alan Priestley and TechTarget's Senior Technology Editor Stephen Bigelow. For now, the potential is there for a laptop-less world, but the pieces still haven't come together to create something light enough, fast enough or cheap enough to do it all in one device. Forrester's Hewitt said to watch Microsoft's next move. The company's investments in <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/tip/Comparing-Windows-365-vs-Azure-Virtual-Desktop">Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop</a> and the Windows 365 Cloud PC -- which runs directly from a browser -- point to something big coming. "Windows is obviously still dominant," Hewitt said. "The vast majority of the market share today in the enterprise is still Windows, but to say that Microsoft's not thinking about this fundamental transition of bringing client computing to the web would certainly be false ... [Those investments are] an attempt to really modernize the Windows platform and make it accessible from anywhere. They see that vision." Don Fluckinger covers digital experience management, end-user computing, CPUs and assorted other topics for TechTarget Editorial. Got a tip? <a href="mailto:dfluckinger@techtarget.com?subject=Tip%20from%20article%20">Email him</a>. </section> AWS bowed a new entry into the thin client space, which appeals to a limited audience of Amazon WorkSpaces-based orgs. What we really want is to ditch the work laptop for good. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/keyboard_g164210754.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/Amazon-thin-client-spurs-conversation-about-replacing-laptops Thu, 30 Nov 2023 16:18:00 GMT Amazon thin client spurs conversation about replacing laptops AWS released the Amazon Workspaces Thin Client, a lightweight and inexpensive computer for remote workers, on Sunday. It combines a couple of vintage ideas: <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/definition/virtual-desktop-infrastructure-VDI">virtual desktop infrastructure</a>, which has been around as long as mainframes, and the Fire TV Cube, which Amazon first released in 2018. But its purpose -- rewiring the future of working from home -- is futuristic. Hardware manufacturers such as Dell and HP also offer <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchnetworking/definition/thin-client">thin client</a> hardware, but they charge far more than the $195 price tag of the Amazon Workspaces Thin Client. They also don't have the advantage that AWS has -- the cloud infrastructure to back up their thin client devices. "The new norm is hybrid remote work," said Marissa Schmidt, a Gartner analyst, adding that Gartner projects that a third of work that went remote in 2020 will be done in offices moving forward. "So the ability to have the best user experience [working] from home -- as well as being able to manage it through the cloud -- with a thin client makes a lot of sense." <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Lightweight computing makes a comeback"> <h2 class="section-title">Lightweight computing makes a comeback</h2> The device is called a thin client because of its restricted processing capabilities compared with a full laptop or desktop PC. "We were playing off of a term that is common in our industry, where customers don't expect anything on the end-user device -- all of that stuff happens in the cloud," said Muneer Mirza, general manager of end-user experiences at AWS. AWS released the Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client for virtual desktops on the eve of AWS re:Invent 2023, the vendor's cloud-focused conference, held this year virtually and in Las Vegas from Nov. 27 through Dec. 1. AWS' goal with the WorkSpaces Thin Client is to give cloud-based enterprises an end-user device that is cheaper than laptop and desktop PCs, yet gives IT teams more control over data and tighter security. The vendor is hoping that early adopters will include high-turnover sectors such as customer service contact centers and healthcare. <figure class="main-article-image half-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/amazon_work_spaces_thin_client-f.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/amazon_work_spaces_thin_client-f_half_column_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/amazon_work_spaces_thin_client-f_half_column_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/amazon_work_spaces_thin_client-f.jpg 1280w" alt="The Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client device." data-credit="Amazon"> <figcaption> Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client is a repurposed Fire TV Cube that delivers work apps from a company's cloud to employees' remote desktops. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> </div> </figure> Schmidt added that retailers also might find it appealing, rolling it out to stores to maintain a consistent look and feel for software systems from location to location, as well as to keep reporting data in house. Small and medium-sized businesses, too, will likely be a fit, she said, "because many of them were born in the cloud." The Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client also can't be customized. What makes it attractive is that it's not a data storage system at all, but instead a simple conduit for company apps to reach the intended end users, according to Mirza. "There's absolutely no software that an end user can install on this thing," he said. "There's no data stored locally. Even if the thing gets hacked, no problem, just disable it." This gives end users less incentive to keep the device after leaving their employer in comparison with laptops, which can be difficult to claw back from former employees. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Cheaper than a laptop"> <h2 class="section-title">Cheaper than a laptop</h2> By repurposing the Fire TV Cube instead of creating an entirely new product, AWS was able to save on manufacturing costs and give customers a more affordable option. "By avoiding all of those costs, we said, 'That's how we're going to turn this into cost savings and pass those on to the end user' -- or to the purchaser, in this case," Mirza said. The costs that come with the Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client aren't trivial; workers still need a keyboard, a monitor and -- for contact center agents and many other jobs -- a headset. Moreover, the various flavors of WorkSpaces subscriptions start at $7 per employee, per month, as well as AppStream, which employs a consumption-based <a target="_blank" href="https://aws.amazon.com/appstream2/pricing/" rel="noopener">pricing model</a> for streaming apps. But AWS is taking a shot at replacing laptops with what it thinks is a cheaper, more secure option. That said, laptop makers shouldn't be too worried -- at least not yet. But as Microsoft releases new <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchmobilecomputing/news/252496317/Microsoft-cuts-Surface-Duos-price-to-1000">Surface devices</a> that run as thin clients, and Google similarly brings Chromebook thin clients to market, the genre could gain momentum, said Sid Nag, a Gartner analyst. Cost reductions will be attractive to technology buyers, he added. "A thin client can replace the work laptop where you don't need the applications or the data resident in the device," Nag said. "Everything runs in the cloud, thereby reducing the [total cost of ownership] of end-user client device functionality." Mary Reines is a news writer covering customer experience and unified communications for TechTarget Editorial. Before TechTarget, Reines was arts editor at the Marblehead Reporter. Don Fluckinger covers digital experience management, end-user computing, CPUs and assorted other topics for TechTarget Editorial. Got a tip? <a href="mailto:dfluckinger@techtarget.com?subject=Tip%20from%20article%20">Email him</a>. </section> AWS rolls out a computer in a Fire TV Cube box. The $195 device gives enterprises an inexpensive end-user hardware option for remote workers and promises tighter data security. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/telecommunications_g1196912050.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/366561214/AWSs-remote-work-gambit-Amazon-WorkSpaces-Thin-Client Mon, 27 Nov 2023 16:54:00 GMT AWS' remote work gambit: Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client After 18 rather dramatic months, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/news/366560755/Broadcom-completes-VMware-acquisition-promises-investment">Broadcom's acquisition of VMware</a> finally completed last Wednesday in the eleventh hour of a tumultuous month that saw the deal nearly close, then nearly fall apart due in some part to U.S.-China relations. In fact, if the deal hadn't closed by Nov. 26, Broadcom would've owed VMware a reported $1.5 billion termination fee. Thank goodness the deal is done, because the limbo period since the acquisition was <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/news/252520587/VMware-may-be-Broadcoms-next-acquisition-target">announced in May</a> of 2022 has left everyone from customers and partners to employees long on questions and short on answers. Now that it's complete, the pressing question from my perspective is: What's the future of VMware EUC and Carbon Black? Until now, most communications from Broadcom, mainly through CEO Hock Tan, have mentioned VMware Cloud Foundation -- an architecture or platform for managing modern apps delivered from multiple clouds. This is built on VMware's data center, networking, storage and cloud businesses and doesn't really have anything to do with Carbon Black or VMware EUC, which includes all the various flavors of VMware Horizon (between two and six depending on how you count), VMware App Volumes, and VMware Workspace ONE and its broad stable of offerings. There are many directions Broadcom could go with the two business units, but it sure feels like some sort of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/First-thoughts-on-VMware-EUC-sale-to-private-equity-firm-KKR">divestiture is in the future</a>, especially since neither aligns with anything else Broadcom does. In fact, Tan has been quoted saying he will "review strategic alternatives" for the two business, so I think it's safe to say things will look quite different in the coming months and years. That said, Horizon and Workspace ONE customers can probably rest assured. VMware EUC is too big and strategic to organizations to simply snuff out, so the products you use today will almost certainly be around for the foreseeable future. It's likely business as usual from the outside perspective, though the company name you write on the renewal check might change in the coming months or years. Carbon Black, a security software company VMware acquired in 2019, is now an autonomous business unit within Broadcom, according to a <a target="_blank" href="https://blogs.vmware.com/security/2023/11/carbon-black-is-back.html" rel="noopener">blog published by VP and General Manager Jason Rolleston</a> on Nov. 27. This indicates that Broadcom isn't interested in folding Carbon Black into the endpoint security offerings they've got from their acquisition of Symantec in 2019, and it seems likely that it's being set up to be sold off at some point in the future. This is not a bad thing, though. Integrating Carbon Black into Broadcom's enterprise security portfolio would be a challenge, especially when it comes to enabling sellers and partners. In fact, keeping it separate and potentially selling it off could breathe new life into Carbon Black and its future. While the acquisition of VMware by Broadcom is complete, the real work of implementing any plans created during the pre-acquisition period is just beginning; we're still going to be left with more questions than answers. The year ahead will likely be busy as we sort through the fallout from an acquisition this huge. For now, it looks as though everything will stay the course until a "strategic alternative" is identified. Gabe Knuth is the senior end user computing analyst for TechTarget's Enterprise Strategy Group. He writes publicly for TechTarget in addition to his analyst work. If you'd like to reach out, see his profile on LinkedIn or send an email to <a title="mailto:gabe.knuth@esg-global.com" href="mailto:gabe.knuth@esg-global.com">gabe.knuth@esg-global.com</a>. Enterprise Strategy Group is a division of TechTarget. Its analysts have business relationships with technology vendors. Following the acquisition of VMware, there are a number of directions Broadcom could go with VMware's end user computing and Carbon Black business units. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/strategy_a313453946.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/What-happens-to-VMware-EUC-and-Carbon-Black-under-Broadcom Mon, 27 Nov 2023 16:37:00 GMT What happens to VMware EUC and Carbon Black under Broadcom? Last week, Microsoft changed policy, finally allowing customers to use Microsoft 365 from Amazon WorkSpaces. Amazon shouted the news from the rooftops. At the risk of looking a gift horse in the mouth, this is a stunning reversal of a licensing limitation that Microsoft has had in place since October of 2019. The limitation was seemingly put in place to restrict <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/definition/Microsoft-Office-365-suite">Office 365</a> usage at key competitors, but it has yet to be legally challenged. Since 2019, Microsoft 365 has supplanted Office 365 as the vendor's productivity bundle. Per Microsoft's <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/product/changes/all" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a>: <blockquote> Beginning August 1, 2023, users with specific licenses may run Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise/business, Microsoft Project, and Microsoft Visio on Amazon WorkSpaces. The licenses that will be eligible under this revised policy include Microsoft 365 E3/E5/A3/A5 and Microsoft 365 Business Premium. If you currently have any of these licenses, starting from August 1, you will be able to utilize these Microsoft applications on Amazon WorkSpaces virtual desktop infrastructure. </blockquote> With this announcement, Microsoft lifted a very specific part of a broader set of limitations that has served as a point of frustration for vendors and customers alike. <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="History of Microsoft's licensing restrictions"> <h2 class="section-title">History of Microsoft's licensing restrictions</h2> In August 2019, Microsoft stated that on October 1, 2019: <ul class="default-list"> <li>Office 365 subscriptions could only be deployed into the cloud via dedicated server environments at "Authorized Outsourcers" or in shared environments via Qualified Multitenant Hosters (QMTH), as long as the outsourcer or QMTH partner was not a "Listed Provider." Customers that wanted to run Office in locations that didn't comply with this new policy had to purchase Office as perpetual licenses, without the additional features of Office 365.</li> <li>Windows desktop operating systems -- and other components, such as SQL Server -- could also only be deployed to dedicated server environments that were not Listed Providers. In the case of Windows desktops, those who wanted to deploy to Listed Providers or to shared environments would need to pay for "license mobility," which really amounts to purchasing a Virtual Desktop Access (VDA) license.</li> </ul> As usual, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/opinion/Will-Windows-11-become-a-subscription-only-service">Microsoft licensing</a> interpretation is in the eye of the beholder, and if you ask 10 different people a Microsoft licensing question, you will get 11 different answers. However, here is some unambiguous language that specifically excludes Listed Providers from being able to provide Office or Windows. Those Listed Providers, in a document <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/docs/view/Listed-Providers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">maintained</a> by Microsoft and dated October 2019, are as follows: <ul class="default-list"> <li>Alibaba.</li> <li>Amazon.</li> <li>Google.</li> <li>Microsoft -- more clarity on this further along.</li> </ul> There is also a note that says any service running on a Listed Provider is also subject to this policy, and it specifically cites VMware Cloud on AWS as an example. Effectively, it meant that the only way to run Office 365 was either on premises, from a cloud that's not a Listed Provider or -- and this is where the eyebrows start to rise -- <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/tip/Understanding-how-Azure-Virtual-Desktop-pricing-works">on Azure Virtual Desktop</a>. This final option involves a different licensing path that's not affected by this policy. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How can Microsoft be on the list?"> <h2 class="section-title">How can Microsoft be on the list?</h2> It seems counterintuitive that Microsoft should be on the list of excluded providers. My only possible explanation is that, by placing themselves on the list at the same time as creating another way to use Office 365 from the cloud -- via Azure Virtual Desktop -- that customers get as part of an enterprise agreement, Microsoft can say, "We excluded ourselves, too," while at the same time onboarding people into their new ecosystem. This policy, and the caveat that any services running on a Listed Provider were also affected, means that other <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvmware/tip/Azure-VMware-Solution-next-gen-offers-easier-migrations">services, such as Azure VMware Solution</a> -- which is effectively vSphere as a service, delivered by Microsoft -- are also not able to run Office 365 or Windows desktop OSes. That is, they aren't able to run without paying the license mobility fee, which is effectively just a VDA license in addition to your <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchwindowsserver/tip/How-to-decide-on-what-Office-365-add-on-licenses-to-use">E3/E5 license</a>. Despite Microsoft being on the list, they still created a path that makes Azure Virtual Desktop the only place to go for customers who want to use Windows desktop operating systems, Windows multi-session and Office 365. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Back to Amazon WorkSpaces"> <h2 class="section-title">Back to Amazon WorkSpaces</h2> <blockquote class="main-article-pullquote"> <div class="main-article-pullquote-inner"> <figure> Windows Server instances can run on shared hardware with licensing built into the Amazon WorkSpaces subscription cost, while Windows desktop OSes are bring your own license (BYOL) and must run on dedicated hardware. </figure> </div> </blockquote> Microsoft appears to have walked back one very specific angle of its licensing policies: Amazon WorkSpaces seems to have been carved out of the Listed Providers. What that means for the other Listed Providers remains to be seen, including non-WorkSpaces AWS workloads. For example, what does that mean for VMware and Citrix environments that want to run on VMware Cloud on AWS? It does appear that software using WorkSpaces Core is included in this, which could be great news for partners such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/Alternatives-to-Citrix-Microsoft-and-VMware-for-remote-work">Leostream, VMware, and Workspot</a> that are working with AWS today. It's also worth noting that all the other licensing stipulations are still in effect with AWS and Microsoft. Windows Server instances can run on shared hardware with licensing built into the Amazon WorkSpaces subscription cost, while Windows desktop OSes are bring your own license (BYOL) and must run on dedicated hardware. <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-xanQ3aUWms?autoplay=0&modestbranding=1&rel=0&widget_referrer=null&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0"></iframe> </div> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Why this change, and why now?"> <h2 class="section-title">Why this change, and why now?</h2> This is a huge deal, for sure. But now it seems as though Microsoft is picking and choosing who it works with and who it doesn't. To me, the real question is, "Why did they make that change? And why now?" Could the heat have been on? Google and AWS, as well as independent groups like the <a href="https://www.fairsoftwarelicensing.com/about-the-coalition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Coalition for Fair Software Licensing</a>, are attempting to shine a light on unfair practices across the industry, and it may be gaining traction among themselves and customers. One guess is that Microsoft's hand was forced by some large customers, perhaps under the threat of a lawsuit that could force Microsoft to explain these license policies in a way that didn't make them seem anti-competitive. </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What's next?"> <h2 class="section-title">What's next?</h2> From intel based on industry conversations, the other Listed Providers are still playing by the old rules, though that could change. Perhaps the number of disenfranchised customers hasn't hit a critical mass to force a broader change. But the other companies listed -- or a partner of theirs like VMware -- should be waving their hands wildly, asking when each of their platforms and customers are next. It's also worth noting that this announcement does nothing to provide relief for customers that are paying for Windows VDA licenses when running desktops in Listed Providers and not in Azure Virtual Desktop. Nevertheless, the key takeaway: This is a good thing for AWS and Amazon WorkSpaces customers, and it levels the competitive landscape a tiny bit. There is a long way to go, but it gives hope that things may open up a bit more in the future. Enterprise Strategy Group is a division of TechTarget. Its analysts have business relationships with technology vendors. </section> Microsoft has finally walked back one very specific angle of its Office 365 licensing policy, allowing enterprises to run it on Amazon WorkSpaces. Will others follow? https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/folder-files08.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/opinion/Amazon-WorkSpaces-finally-supports-Office-365-but-why-now Wed, 09 Aug 2023 13:51:00 GMT Amazon WorkSpaces finally supports Office 365, but why now? The Cloud Software Group, born of last year's <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252525604/Questions-remain-following-Citrix-Tibco-merger">merger between Citrix Systems and Tibco Software</a>, laid off thousands of workers on January 10 following a revamp of business operations affecting sales, marketing and product development. In an email to employees ahead of the layoffs, CSG CEO Tom Krause outlined plans to focus direct sales and marketing only on its 1,600 largest customers and limit product development to a newly drawn roadmap. "What we are building for CSG requires us to completely rethink how Citrix and Tibco ran as a businesses, which is an extraordinary undertaking," Krause said in the email shared with TechTarget by a laid-off employee. On Tuesday, CSG sent emails notifying employees it laid off across the company. Some people left that day; others would stay temporarily for a transition period. There were no details on a severance package. The company eliminated about 15% of CSG's workforce of roughly 15,000, Krause said <a href="https://www.cloud.com/news/ceo-update.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in a statement</a> released Wednesday. That amounts to about 2,250 jobs. "While there are significant impacts to the organization, many that have been painful for the teams this week, I am confident in our new business model," Krause said. CSG declined to be interviewed. A laid-off engineer who requested anonymity expected cuts to the cybersecurity unit to have the most severe impact on products. "There are a lot of people who had been working for like eight years, nine years, who knew the product deeply -- all the features," he said. "They were crucial in terms of designing the security architecture. All of them were let go, so I wouldn't be too comfortable about the outlook of security." <blockquote class="main-article-pullquote"> <div class="main-article-pullquote-inner"> <figure> There are very few that actually want to stay after all the changes have happened. Especially because the new compensation structure looks pretty awful. </figure> <figcaption> Laid-off worker who asked to remain anonymous </figcaption> </div> </blockquote> CSG's owners, investment firms Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital, launched the company Dec. 1 after completing the purchase of Citrix Systems in September and merging it with Tibco Software. CSG then started a comprehensive evaluation of the combined company, examining every role, system, and business process, Krause said in the email to employees. The most notable change was how CSG would sell its products, Krause said. CSG planned to sell to its top 1,600 customers across North America and Europe. The customer segment includes the top 1,000 users of Citrix products, including NetScaler and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/Citrix-XenServer">XenServer</a>, and the top 600 TIBCO customers. CSG planned to let its channel partners serve the rest of its customers. In return, CSG would provide "richer incentives" and simplify its partner program. Internally, CSG executives have discussed raising prices by 30% to 40% by reducing discounts offered to customers, said a laid-off sales rep who asked to remain anonymous. It was unclear how CSG's direct sales team would go after new business, the sale rep said. In September, Tibco laid off the roughly 80 people responsible for finding new customers. Later, the company gave salespeople it planned to lay off only a few responsibilities, the sales rep said. "They took all my accounts away from me," he said. "They took all my opportunities away from me, and I twiddled my thumbs." Overall, employees interviewed said working at CSG has been stressful over the last month since most knew that layoffs were coming. "There are very few that actually want to stay after all the changes have happened," the sales rep said. "Especially because the new compensation structure looks pretty awful." <div class="imagecaption alignLeft"> <img src="https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/Krause_Tom.jpg" alt="Tom Krause, CSG CEO">Tom Krause </div> The restructuring of Citrix and Tibco as a combined company includes a "clear and focused" 2023 product roadmap with milestones to eliminate "any guesswork for where we will invest our engineering resources," Krause said. "This means that while we will heavily invest to growth areas that drive the roadmap, we will also eliminate those areas that do not," he said. CSG's Citrix ShareFile and Tibco Jaspersoft businesses, which serve different markets and customer segments than the rest of CSG, would operate almost independently through their separate salesforces, Krause said. ShareFile is a content collaboration and file-sharing platform, and Tibco Jaspersoft is a reporting and analytics platform. Antone Gonsalves is the networking news director for TechTarget Editorial. He has deep and wide experience in tech journalism. Since the mid-1990s, he has worked for UBM's InformationWeek, TechWeb and Computer Reseller News. He has also written for Ziff Davis' PC Week, IDG's CSOonline and IBTMedia's CruxialCIO, and rounded all of that out by covering startups for Bloomberg News. He started his journalism career at United Press International, working as a reporter and editor in California, Texas, Kansas and Florida. Have a news tip? Please drop him an <a href="mailto:agonsalves@techtarget.com">email</a>. Cloud Software Group lays off 2,250 workers following major changes to sales and product development after merging Citrix Systems with Tibco Software. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/disaster_recovery_a201348239.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/news/252529104/Thousands-of-Citrix-Tibco-employees-laid-off-following-merger Wed, 11 Jan 2023 14:51:00 GMT Thousands of Citrix, Tibco employees laid off following merger Citrix Systems and TIBCO Software are officially one company. On Friday, Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital completed the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/feature/MetLife-improves-efficiency-with-Tibco-Data-Virtualization">$16.5 billion Citrix acquisition</a>. Immediately following the deal's close, the firms launched the Cloud Software Group that will oversee the merger of Citrix and TIBCO. The Cloud Software Group's <a href="https://www.cloud.com/leadership.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> provided no details on the combined company's products. Instead, it listed the management team <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252522682/New-CEO-not-likely-to-change-Tibco-once-merged-with-Citrix">led by CEO Tom Krause</a>, former president of semiconductor company Broadcom. "We are excited to create a new global leader in enterprise software, designed for scale and growth, through the combination of Citrix and TIBCO," Krauss said in a statement. Named as general managers for Citrix and TIBCO were Sridhar Mullapudi and Matt Quinn, respectively. Mullapudi was chief product officer at Citrix, and Quinn was TIBCO's COO. The information void on the direction of the Citrix-Tibco merger had one Citrix partner, XenTegra, on edge. XenTegra provides managed services for Citrix products, such as its desktop-as-a-service technology. "I still have concerns that Citrix plans to sell directly to their customers above 5,000 employees, which is going to create competition with their partners and ultimately distrust," said Andy Whiteside, XenTegra president and CEO. Whiteside was skeptical that Citrix appreciated the difference between a partner that fulfills orders and a value-added reseller that resells technology that makes the core product more helpful to customers. "Until they do, they are creating unintended competition with their real partners," Whiteside said. In January, Evergreen and Vista said they would acquire Citrix and combine it with TIBCO. Citrix, which has 400,000 customers and 100 million users globally, provides a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252496192/Citrix-launches-well-being-microapps-for-Workspace">digital workspace and application delivery platform</a>. TIBCO is a data management and analytics supplier that Vista acquired in 2014 for $4.3 billion. Citrix offers TIBCO access to a customer base more extensive than its own, analysts said. There are also synergies between both companies' products. Citrix's security and network analytics could prove valuable to Tibco's <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252507230/Hyperconverged-analytics-continues-to-guide-Tibco-strategy">Hyperconverged Analytics</a>, analysts said. The latter blends data science, streaming data capture, and visual analysis in a single product that feeds the vendor's Spotfire business intelligence platform. Vista and Elliott Investment Management -- Evergreen's parent -- considered selling one of Citrix's businesses named Wrike, Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-09/citrix-plans-to-explore-sale-of-wrike-unit-after-buyout-closes?" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> this month. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252495111/Citrix-to-acquire-Wrike-for-225-billion">Citrix acquired Wrike</a> last year for $2.25 billion. Citrix planned to integrate Wrike's project management software into Workspace, Citrix's SaaS for delivering business applications to corporate employees. Representatives of Citrix and the Cloud Software Group declined to be interviewed for this article.  Antone Gonsalves is the news director for the Networking Media Group. He has deep and wide experience in tech journalism. Since the mid-1990s, he has worked for UBM's InformationWeek, TechWeb and Computer Reseller News. He has also written for Ziff Davis' PC Week, IDG's CSOonline and IBTMedia's CruxialCIO, rounding all that out by covering startups for Bloomberg News. He started his journalism career at United Press International, working as a reporter and editor in California, Texas, Kansas and Florida. Have a news tip? Please drop me an <a href="mailto:agonsalves@techtarget.com">email</a>.<a href="http://agonsalves@techtarget.com"></a> Investment firms Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital completed the acquisition of Citrix, but questions about partnerships and potential product spinoffs remain. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/collab_a275903017.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252525604/Questions-remain-following-Citrix-Tibco-merger Fri, 30 Sep 2022 17:27:00 GMT Questions remain following Citrix-TIBCO merger Apple-focused endpoint management provider Jamf plans to acquire mobile security company ZecOps to help businesses detect threats to iOS devices. Jamf did not disclose how much it will pay for ZecOps, whose software logs activity on mobile devices to find signs of attacks. The companies unveiled the deal this week and said it would close by the end of the year. The acquisition will help Jamf's enterprise customers discover <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252524012/Apple-patches-two-zero-days-in-macOs-iOS">iOS device threats</a> more quickly, Jamf CEO Dean Hager said in an email. Jamf already offers threat protection on Macs through <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/news/252473897/Jamf-Protect-offers-visibility-protection-for-macOS-admins">its Protect product</a>. <div class="imagecaption alignLeft"> <img src="https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineImages/hager_dean.jpg" alt="Dean Hager, CEO, Jamf">Dean Hager </div> "ZecOps enables advanced threat hunting by capturing and analyzing logs from iOS ... devices at the deepest layer, the operating system," Hager said. ZecOps CEO Zuk Avraham, who co-founded the San Francisco-based company in 2017, said the deal would advance its mission of finding hard-to-detect attacks. "By combining with Jamf, we can offer our customers truly powerful mobile threat intelligence and threat-hunting capabilities that will keep up with the evolving threat landscape without compromising user experience," he said in a statement. In the enterprise, iOS devices are popular. A 2020 IDC survey found that iPhones account for 49% of the smartphones used by U.S. businesses, and iPads are the most used tablet. The popularity of using iPhones for work has made the devices a target for attackers. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchmobilecomputing/opinion/How-IT-can-prevent-mobile-phishing-attacks">Mobile workers face threats</a> from numerous avenues, including email, SMS messages and QR codes. "What I do see is an increased prevalence of cyber attacks on mobile," Forrester Research analyst Andrew Hewitt said. "I see [Jamf's] move in bolstering the iOS security side of things as a way to counter that increased threat." ZecOps, which counts the BBC and Bloomberg among its clients, has been active in discovering security problems in iOS. In 2020, the company <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252482061/iOS-zero-day-leaves-iPhone-users-dangerously-exposed">found zero-day vulnerabilities in Apple Mail</a> that allowed attackers to execute code remotely. ZecOps worked with Apple to fix the problem. After the acquisition closes, the entire ZecOps team will join Jamf. Avraham will play a key role in Jamf's future security strategy, a company representative said. The last time Jamf bolstered its security offering was in 2019 with the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/opinion/Jamf-acquires-Digita-Security-for-macOS-endpoint-protection">acquisition of Digita Security</a>, which provided macOS malware protection. Last year, Jamf spent $400 million to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/news/252500816/Apple-focused-Jamf-to-buy-Wandera-for-endpoint-security">pick up Wandera</a>, a zero-trust security provider. In other Jamf news, the company last week launched tools to assist IT in managing <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252493059/Amazon-brings-Mac-mini-to-AWS">Mac instances on the AWS cloud</a>. The technology will make enrolling and controlling instances in Jamf management software easier. Managing AWS Macs in Jamf before required the cumbersome process of manually adding the virtual machines and policies, said Josh Jagdfeld, Jamf's senior director of developer relations. "It was, generally, a lot of clicks for IT," he said. "It's one of those things where you do it once and, if you have to do it again, you're wondering how much time you could be saving." The new process uses a script to enroll a device automatically and configure its policies. The script is currently available for AWS and Jamf customers. AWS launched its Mac service in 2020, saying it would help developers create and test applications for Apple devices. With the service, developers can run Intel or M1-based Macs on the AWS Elastic Compute Cloud. Mike Gleason is a reporter covering unified communications and collaboration tools. He previously covered communities in the MetroWest region of Massachusetts for the Milford Daily News, Walpole Times, Sharon Advocate and Medfield Press. He has also worked for newspapers in central Massachusetts and southwestern Vermont and served as a local editor for Patch. He can be found on Twitter at @MGleason_TT. Jamf will pay an undisclosed sum for ZecOps, which logs activity on iOS devices to find potential attacks. The companies expect the deal to close by 2023. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/mobile_g692819506.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchmobilecomputing/news/252525444/Jamf-to-acquire-ZecOps-to-bolster-iOS-security Tue, 27 Sep 2022 14:25:00 GMT Jamf to acquire ZecOps to bolster iOS security VMware has released updates to Horizon Cloud to make the offering easier for companies to manage and scale. The company launched an improved version of Horizon Cloud on Microsoft Azure Tuesday at VMware Explore in San Francisco. The new architecture enables the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/definition/desktop-as-a-service-DaaS">desktop as a service</a> (DaaS) product to support more users and makes it simpler to control. The changes, available to Horizon subscribers for no additional charge, help companies support large numbers of <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Getting-ready-for-the-new-normal-of-hybrid-working">hybrid workers</a> without increasing infrastructure costs or imposing a greater burden on IT, VMware executives said. <div class="imagecaption alignLeft"> <img src="https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/upadhyay_renu.jpg" alt="Renu Upadhyay, vice president, VMware">Renu Upadhyay </div> "It's a modern architecture that's designed around simplification, from an IT management perspective," VMware vice president Renu Upadhyay said during a pre-show briefing. As a result of the revised architecture, Horizon Cloud can scale better, according to company representatives. The service can support up to 20,000 users per Azure cloud subscription -- well above the 2,000-user limit imposed by previous versions. As a result, companies can accommodate more workers with fewer Azure subscriptions. VMware built the updated Horizon Cloud around <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/application-program-interface-API">APIs</a> that provide greater customization. Using the APIs, software vendors and VMware customers can develop their tools for Horizon, enabling them to automate repetitive IT tasks. The Horizon improvements went into limited availability in February. Although the updated Horizon Cloud launched on Azure, VMware plans to eventually bring the capabilities to other cloud providers. The DaaS market will grow from $4.2 billion in 2021 to $18.7 billion in 2030, according to a <a href="https://www.verifiedmarketresearch.com/product/desktop-as-a-service-market/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Verified Market Research. The need for workers to remotely access company files in a fast and secure way will drive the expansion, the research firm said. VMware faces stiff competition in the space, notably from Microsoft's <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252503989/Microsoft-puts-its-OS-in-the-cloud-with-Windows-365">Windows 365</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252471581/Windows-Virtual-Desktop-is-generally-available">Azure Virtual Desktop</a> services. In other news, VMware plans to release a virtual desktop product that takes many administration tasks off IT's plate. With Horizon Managed Desktop, VMware will handle virtual desktop onboarding, maintenance and tech support. Companies can deploy the product on premises as well as on a hybrid or public cloud. VMware did not say when it would launch the offering. VMware has also improved its <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252490117/VMware-bolsters-Workspace-One-security-with-Secure-Access">Workspace One</a> unified endpoint management product. Workspace One's low-code automation tool, Freestyle Orchestrator, supports third-party apps and iOS and Android devices. The company said this would allow IT to ease its workload by automating tasks like onboarding and software patching. Another Workspace One feature supports multiple workers on a single Windows device. The company said this would be useful for frontline work, in-office loaner devices and <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/Write-side-up-by-Freeform-Dynamics/Hybrid-working-isnt-turning-out-as-we-expected">hybrid work offices</a> that use shared desks. The feature has launched for Azure Active Directory-based deployments, while companies using on-premises Active Directory will be able to use it later this year. Mike Gleason is a reporter covering unified communications and collaboration tools. He previously covered communities in the MetroWest region of Massachusetts for the Milford Daily News, Walpole Times, Sharon Advocate and Medfield Press. He has also worked for newspapers in central Massachusetts and southwestern Vermont and served as a local editor for Patch. He can be found on Twitter at @MGleason_TT. VMware has improved Horizon Cloud and added features to Workspace One UEM. It also plans to launch a managed virtual desktop product to support the various needs of hybrid work. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/wfh_a359418579.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252524367/VMware-updates-Horizon-Cloud-to-reduce-infrastructure-needs Tue, 30 Aug 2022 10:55:00 GMT VMware updates Horizon Cloud to reduce infrastructure needs The revelation that Tibco will have a new CEO once its merger with Citrix is complete came as a surprise to some, but the change in leadership will likely not have a significant impact on the analytics vendor's platform development or its customers. Tibco, founded in 1997 and based in Palo Alto, Calif., is a subsidiary of Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital Corp. In January 2022, Vista and Evergreen <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252512699/Tibco-Citrix-to-merge-after-Citrix-acquired-by-Vista">reached an agreement to acquire Citrix</a>, a digital workspace technology vendor founded in 1989 and based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., with the acquisition expected to close during the third quarter of this year. Once completed, Vista and Evergreen plan to merge Citrix and Tibco to create a single company that will join Citrix's digital workspace and application delivery platform with Tibco's analytics and data management capabilities. On Monday, Vista revealed that rather than appoint Tibco CEO Dan Streetman or Citrix chairman and interim president and CEO Bob Calderoni to lead the combined entity, it will instead bring in Tom Krause as the new CEO. <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/tibco_ceo_dan_streetman.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/tibco_ceo_dan_streetman_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/tibco_ceo_dan_streetman_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/tibco_ceo_dan_streetman.jpg 1280w" alt="Tibco CEO Dan Streetman speaks during the vendor's virtual user conference in 2021" height="315" width="560"> <figcaption> Tibco CEO Dan Streetman speaks during the vendor's virtual user conference in 2021. It was revealed July 11 that Tom Krause will take over as Tibco's CEO once the vendor merges with Citrix. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> </div> </figure> Krause was promoted to president of semiconductor giant Broadcom in 2020 and helped oversee <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/news/252520587/VMware-may-be-Broadcoms-next-acquisition-target">Broadcom's recent $61 billion acquisition of VMWare</a>. Before that, he was Broadcom's chief financial officer for four years. Streetman and Calderoni will remain in their roles until <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/news/252529104/Thousands-of-Citrix-Tibco-employees-laid-off-following-merger">Tibco and Citrix</a> are combined. <h3>A surprising, but rational, move</h3> The move to bring in Krause was somewhat surprising but makes sense given the <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/us-economic-outlook-3305669" target="_blank" rel="noopener">current economic climate</a>, according to Doug Henschen, an analyst at Constellation Research. He noted that Krause has a financial background, while Streetman was a sales leader before ascending to CEO and Citrix currently has an interim leader. And with the sharp declines in the stock market in 2022 and fears of a recession, the appointment of Krause indicates that Vista is placing an emphasis on the monetary health of Tibco and Citrix. "We've just had a major shakeout in the financial markets and Vista appears to be more concerned about financial management at this time," Henschen said. While Streetman won't be Tibco's CEO once the merger with Citrix is complete, the analytics vendor will still have its product and development leaders in place, which suggests stability for current Tibco customers, he added. Tibco offers three separate analytics platforms, with <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252521620/Tibco-Spotfire-12-to-enable-direct-actions-from-dashboards">Spotfire enabling deep data exploration</a>, streaming analytics and data science; WebFocus specializing in scalable reporting that allows thousands of users to view and work with the same data; and JasperSoft designed for developers to enable them to embed BI within applications. The analytics tools help make up Tibco's "predict" portfolio. In addition, the vendor has a "connect" portfolio that includes its cloud capabilities and a "unify" portfolio that addresses data management. Meanwhile, despite the pending change at the top, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252507230/Hyperconverged-analytics-continues-to-guide-Tibco-strategy">Nelson Petracek remains Tibco's chief technology officer</a> and Matt Quinn is still its chief operating officer. And at the product level, Mark Palmer is its senior vice president of analytics, data science and data products. "Reports to the CEO at each brand unit can steer software direction," Henschen said. In fact, the day after it was revealed that Streetman will eventually depart Tibco and Krause will become its new CEO, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252522123/Tibco-targets-data-model-deployment-with-ModelOps-launch">the vendor released ModelOps</a>, an anticipated tool first unveiled in preview more than a year ago that will enable organizations to quickly deploy data science models at scale. While Henschen expressed some surprise at the move to appoint a new leader of Tibco once it merges with Citrix, David Menninger, an analyst at Ventana Research, noted that acquisitions often lead to changes in leadership. And though Tibco wasn't technically acquired in Vista and Evergreen's deal to buy Citrix, its merger with Citrix will result in a changed company. Citrix, meanwhile, is indeed getting a new owner. "I'm never surprised when a change of ownership results in a change in leadership," Menninger said. "The acquirer usually often believes there is some untapped opportunity in the organization they are acquiring which the existing leadership did not recognize." <blockquote class="main-article-pullquote"> <div class="main-article-pullquote-inner"> <figure> I'm not surprised there is a new CEO. It makes sense to drive a new direction for the unified company. This is, after all, not a takeover by one of the other, but more like a real merger. </figure> <figcaption> Donald FarmerFounder and principal, TreeHive Strategy </figcaption> </div> </blockquote> Similarly, Donald Farmer, founder and principal at TreeHive Strategy, said it's not a shock that Vista and Evergreen plan to put a new CEO in place once Tibco and Citrix have been joined, noting that neither Tibco nor Citrix is acquiring the other <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252490977/Tibco-expands-analytics-offerings-with-IBI-acquisition">in the same way Tibco bought IBI in 2020</a>, so it makes sense that neither company's leader will be CEO. "I'm not surprised there is a new CEO," he said. "It makes sense to drive a new direction for the unified company. This is, after all, not a takeover by one of the other, but more like a real merger." <h3>A confounding combination</h3> While a new CEO is set to take over once Tibco and Citrix join forces, it remains to be seen whether the two companies are a good fit. The vendors' technologies do not have an obvious synergy, though at the time Vista and Evergreen's acquisition of Citrix was first revealed, Tibco's Streetman said <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252510145/Rapidly-changing-hybrid-workforce-sees-IT-departments-struggle-to-keep-up">the changing nature of the workforce</a> with many more people working from home than just a few years ago served as part of the motivation for the move. "I don't really see the synergies between Tibco and Citrix," Menninger said. "Obviously, both are software companies, but there is not a lot of overlap between Tibco's data and analytics capabilities and Citrix's digital workspace technology." At the time the acquisition and resulting merger of Tibco and Citrix was first revealed, Henschen speculated that perhaps the greatest benefit to Tibco will be exposure to Citrix's customer base of more than 400,000. However, six months later Henschen noted that the reasons for the merger still aren't clear. "I'm still puzzling over the combination a bit and haven't seen synergistic messaging and positioning," he said. "The Tibco and Citrix sites are still displaying the messaging and positioning that was in place before the acquisition. We'll see if things change quickly in the wake of Krause's appointment." Farmer, meanwhile, said he is a bit more bullish on the merger given how many more <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/4-tips-to-ensure-secure-remote-working-during-COVID-19-pandemic">people work remotely</a> than before the COVID-19 pandemic. By combining Tibco and Citrix, the new company has the potential to deliver enterprise infrastructure capabilities to organizations with remote employees while also <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252516091/Tibco-WebFocus-update-aims-to-make-analytics-accessible">providing high-level analytics capabilities</a>. "This shift [to remote work] represents a challenge to any company delivering enterprise infrastructure," Farmer said. "There should be significant opportunities for the new company to deliver the entire hybrid work experience from the networking experience to the real-time data and analytics experience." He cautioned, however, that a merger between companies the size of Tibco and Citrix could be complex, and if it proves unwieldy could hurt Tibco's product development pipeline. "The merger could be complicated, messy and a drag on innovation," Farmer said. "If it plays out that way, this will be an opportunity lost, because the market is moving very quickly toward new working practices and new infrastructure to support it. Tom Krause has his work cut out to make this both effective and efficient." The analytics vendor's product leaders all remain in place, so while it will have a new company leader, its product development capabilities are expected to remain unchanged. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/strategy_a313453946.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252522682/New-CEO-not-likely-to-change-Tibco-once-merged-with-Citrix Wed, 13 Jul 2022 09:08:00 GMT New CEO not likely to change Tibco once merged with Citrix Microsoft will make Windows 365 Cloud PCs similar to Windows 11 on a physical desktop so that corporate workers can easily switch between the two when at home or in the office. The company will update its Windows 365 <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/definition/desktop-as-a-service-DaaS">desktop as a service</a> (DaaS) offering to make Cloud PCs -- what Microsoft calls persistent virtual desktops -- familiar to employees accustomed to using locally installed versions of Windows. Upcoming features will let workers switch between the Windows desktop and DaaS versions, boot directly to Windows 365 and use Cloud PCs offline. At <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/news/252515607/Microsoft-Windows-11-features-ease-hybrid-work-strain-on-IT">a Windows 11 event</a> this week, Microsoft executives said these features would help companies ensure employees are secure when working out of the office or <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchmobilecomputing/tip/3-BYOD-security-risks-and-how-to-prevent-them">using their own devices</a>. "We ... recognized that extending the Windows experience beyond the traditional corporate-owned and -deployed PC would be necessary to meet changing workforce needs," said Wangui McKelvey, Microsoft 365 general manager. "That's why we created Windows 365." Microsoft did not say when it would release the capabilities. One upcoming capability lets workers use Cloud PCs when they aren't connected to the internet. Windows 365 Offline will store needed data locally, allowing employees to get work done from more places without worrying about a consistent connection. Companies would be able to accommodate such workers while retaining the service's security benefits. "You get the best of both worlds," Forrester Research analyst Paddy Harrington said. With Windows 365 Offline, Microsoft will address one of the biggest barriers to enterprise virtual desktop adoption, said Vadim Vladimirskiy, CEO of virtual desktop management firm Nerdio. "Using a traditional virtual desktop [in poor connectivity conditions] is frustrating and very unproductive," he said. "[Being able to work offline] will increase the adoption of Cloud PCs by expanding the use cases and increasing user productivity." Companies with employees who share computers will benefit from an upcoming feature that boots directly to Windows 365, Microsoft said. The capability will let workers skip signing on to the local installation of Windows and log in to their Cloud PC immediately after <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/tip/Can-users-run-Windows-365-on-Android-and-iOS">powering on the device</a>. A Windows 365 app will make it easier for workers to launch Cloud PCs from their Windows 11 taskbar or Start menu. The app will allow employees to customize their Windows 365 settings and profiles, but IT administrators will control what options are available. The app will come with future Windows 11 releases, and IT can install it on Windows 10 computers as well. <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/windows_365_switch.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/windows_365_switch_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/windows_365_switch_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/windows_365_switch.jpg 1280w" alt="Screenshot of Windows 365 Switch with Cloud PC and local Windows 11 options" data-credit="Microsoft" height="350" width="560"> <figcaption> A Windows 365 feature allows workers to switch from a local desktop to a Cloud PC, as if they were moving between windows. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> </div> </figure> Microsoft will make it easier to shift between Cloud PC and local Windows 11 desktops with Windows 365 Switch. The feature makes moving from one to the other like switching between windows on the desktop. Workers can select the desktops from the Windows Task Switcher using a mouse, keyboard commands or a swipe gesture. Microsoft <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252503989/Microsoft-puts-its-OS-in-the-cloud-with-Windows-365">launched Windows 365</a> last summer. Rather than charge by data consumption like rivals, Microsoft chose per-user pricing. Microsoft could use Windows 365 to spur <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/news/252503294/Enterprise-IT-pros-unclear-on-Microsoft-Windows-11-benefits">Windows 11 adoption</a>, which has <a href="https://reports.adduplex.com/#/r/2022-03" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly slowed lately</a>. More than one-third of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/tip/Windows-11-upgrade-issues-that-desktop-admins-should-know">enterprise computers can't run Windows 11</a> because of the operating system's steep hardware requirements, according to <a href="https://www.riverbed.com/sites/default/files/file/2022-03/state-digital-experience-q1-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">consulting firm Riverbed</a>. Businesses could use Windows 365 to sidestep the problem by streaming Windows 11 Cloud PCs to those devices. Mike Gleason is a reporter covering unified communications and collaboration tools. He previously covered communities in the MetroWest region of Massachusetts for the Milford Daily News, Walpole Times, Sharon Advocate and Medfield Press. He has also worked for newspapers in central Massachusetts and southwestern Vermont and served as a local editor for Patch. He can be found on Twitter at @MGleason_TT. Microsoft will make Windows 365 more like a local install of Windows by letting employees work offline and switch between their local desktops and Cloud PC. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/wfh_g1247171756.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252515743/Microsoft-brings-Windows-365-Cloud-PC-closer-to-Windows-11 Fri, 08 Apr 2022 13:19:00 GMT Microsoft brings Windows 365 Cloud PC closer to Windows 11 Samsung has made it possible to run the VMware Horizon virtual desktop across both an external monitor and an attached Galaxy smartphone or tablet. The capability provides hybrid workers without a PC the option of using Windows across two displays. Samsung's <a href="https://docs.samsungknox.com/admin/whitepaper/kpe/dex-management.htm" contenteditable="false" title="https://docs.samsungknox.com/admin/whitepaper/kpe/dex-management.htm">Desktop Experience</a> (DeX) lets people connect their Galaxy mobile devices to a monitor, keyboard and mouse to run Android and Windows applications on a bigger screen. People can join the devices with Bluetooth or a USB-C cable. The latest announcement extends the display capability to VMware's virtual desktop running on a Galaxy device, Samsung said last week. Companies running VMware's <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/definition/virtual-desktop-infrastructure-VDI">virtual desktop infrastructure</a> in the data center have requested the feature to make remote work more accessible. "It's almost perfect timing for it," as corporate employees bounce between remote and in-office work as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes, said IDC analyst Phil Hochmuth. Also, using an external monitor makes employees more productive, he added. Some employees might get by using a Galaxy device and monitor instead of a PC, said Andrew Hewitt, an analyst at Forrester Research. "It should make it easier for IT admins to manage remote hardware because they won't have to send full PCs to people's homes -- perhaps just a few peripherals." <figure class="main-article-image half-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/vmware_on_samsung_dex.jpg"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/vmware_on_samsung_dex_half_column_mobile.jpg" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/vmware_on_samsung_dex_half_column_mobile.jpg 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/vmware_on_samsung_dex.jpg 1280w" alt="Two screens running VMware Horizon virtual desktop" data-credit="Samsung" height="157" width="280"> <figcaption> People can run a VMware Horizon virtual desktop on two monitors using Samsung DeX on a Galaxy smartphone or tablet. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> </div> </figure> Samsung devices supporting the latest capability include the Tab S series, starting with S4, and the Tab Active series tablets, starting with Active 3. Other hardware consists of the Galaxy S smartphones series, beginning with the S8 and all Z Fold series smartphones. Samsung's latest mobile devices, the Galaxy Tab 8 series tablets and the Galaxy S22 series smartphones, will support screen sharing while running the Horizon virtual desktop. Samsung <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchmobilecomputing/news/252513221/Samsung-ditches-Note-brings-S-Pen-to-flagship-S-series">unveiled the new hardware at its Unpacked event</a> last week. Samsung designed DeX in a way that turns its flagship devices into thin clients. In addition to VMware, Samsung has worked with Microsoft <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/tip/How-to-use-Samsung-DeX-for-remote-desktop-clients" contenteditable="false" title="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/tip/How-to-use-Samsung-DeX-for-remote-desktop-clients">to run a Windows Virtual Desktop</a> on their devices. Running a virtual desktop on a mobile device has become more feasible in recent years due to the rise of more powerful smartphones and tablets. Finance and healthcare are among the vertical industries most likely to use mobile devices in place of a PC. Proponents argue that mobile desktop virtualization offers flexibility to workers on the go and addresses security concerns when a device is lost or stolen. But until Samsung's DeX, a mouse input wasn't possible on certain legacy apps, including virtual desktops. Maxim Tamarov is a news writer covering mobile and end-user computing. He previously wrote for The Daily News in Jacksonville, N.C., and the Sun Transcript in Winthrop, Mass. He can be found on Twitter at @MaximTamarov. People running VMware’s virtual desktop on Samsung’s smartphones and tablets can access Windows on both the device and an attached monitor to increase productivity. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/mobile_g1022892890.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252513446/Samsung-offers-VMware-Horizon-on-a-mobile-device-monitor Tue, 15 Feb 2022 11:23:00 GMT Samsung extends VMware Horizon to second screen Citrix could double down on its digital workspace technology and abandon its software-defined WAN product following its $16.5 billion acquisition by a private equity consortium, analysts said. The Citrix product line consists primarily of the Citrix Workspace product that allows employees to run cloud applications on a desktop. Citrix distinguishes itself from competitors Microsoft and VMware through its <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/feature/Citrix-Microapps-benefits-include-improved-security-UX">workflow simplification software Microapps</a>, developed for and integrated with Workspace, analysts said.  Citrix has been slower than competitors to migrate its digital desktop to the cloud, said Mark Bowker, an analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. But he added that he expects the acquisition to aid the company's transition from on-premises virtual desktops to cloud-hosted digital workspaces. "They want to recalibrate their business to … address the future of work and digital transformation," Bowker said. This week, Vista Equity Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital Corp., an Elliott Investment Management LP affiliate, announced they would acquire Citrix and merge it with business intelligence vendor Tibco Software. The firms expect to close the deal in the second half of the year, creating one of the largest private software companies. "As a private company, Citrix will have increased financial and strategic flexibility to invest in high-growth opportunities that fuel innovation," said Tim Minahan, executive vice president of business strategy at Citrix. Those investments will likely improve Citrix's Workspace desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) offering, according to Gartner analyst Tony Harvey. Gartner forecasts the DaaS market will grow 18% annually through 2025.  <blockquote class="main-article-pullquote"> <div class="main-article-pullquote-inner"> <figure> There is a clear opportunity for Citrix to invest and grow in this space. </figure> <figcaption> Tony HarveyAnalyst, Gartner </figcaption> </div> </blockquote> "So, there is a clear opportunity for Citrix to invest and grow in this space," Harvey said. Citrix will also focus on <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/news/252512699/Tibco-Citrix-to-merge-after-Citrix-acquired-by-Vista">integrating Tibco's data analytics into Workspace</a>, according to Steve Brasen, an analyst at Enterprise Management Associates. Tibco's tools will give employers visibility into the apps employees use, and how they're using them, Brasen said. That will help employers determine which employees are better at which tasks and where to focus resources. The fate of Citrix's SD-WAN product used to manage the connectivity between branch offices, the cloud, and the corporate data center isn't clear. The company has SD-WAN and application delivery controller products that run separately from Workspace. When private equity firms acquire IT management companies, they push for predictable revenue, and the best way to do that with Citrix is to bolster its DaaS features, Brasen said.  "If you're going in that direction, it does make sense to spin off some of the network management tools," Brasen said.  <div class="imagecaption alignLeft"> <img src="https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/calderoni_robert.jpg " alt="Robert Calderoni, interim CEO at Citrix">Robert Calderoni </div> Former <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/feature/Citrix-CEO-David-Henshall-addresses-Citrix-news-sale-rumors">CEO David Henshall had been crucial in Citrix's transition</a> to the cloud, according to Bowker and Brasen. Henshall stepped down shortly before media reports of a possible acquisition and was replaced by interim CEO Robert Calderoni, who had led Ariba before SAP acquired it. The merger of Citrix and Tibco will form a software company with 400,000 customers and 100 million users across 100 countries. The combined company would serve 98% of Fortune 500 companies.  Citrix's board of directors unanimously approved the deal, but it remains subject to its shareholders' and regulators' approval. Citrix will continue to operate under the Citrix name and brand, and its headquarters will remain in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the company said. Citrix has more than 9,400 employees worldwide. Enterprise Strategy Group is a division of TechTarget Maxim Tamarov is a news writer covering mobile and end-user computing. He previously wrote for The Daily News in Jacksonville, N.C., and the Sun Transcript in Winthrop, Mass. He can be found on Twitter at @MaximTamarov. A private equity consortium acquiring Citrix will merge it with business intelligence vendor Tibco to add data analytics into Citrix Workspace. The deal is set to close this year. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/searchSalesForce/sales_platform/salesforce_article_041.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252512696/Citrix-to-be-acquired-for-165B Mon, 31 Jan 2022 10:24:00 GMT Citrix to focus on digital workspace following acquisition VMware has added management capabilities to its Horizon platform for delivering virtual desktops from Microsoft Azure. This week, the company launched Azure-focused improvements to the Control Plane tool within Horizon, a platform to deliver virtual desktops from a cloud infrastructure provider or a private data center. IT staff members can use the <a href="https://www.vmware.com/products/horizon/controlplane.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Horizon Control Plane</a> to manage all VMware virtual desktops. VMware added four significant Control Plane services for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Windows-Azure">Azure</a> customers: <ul class="default-list"> <li>The Universal Broker connects virtual desktops and apps to users based on criteria like network capacity, location and company settings.</li> <li>The Cloud Monitoring Service allows IT staff members to see their company's virtual desktop and app performance in real time.</li> <li>The Image Management Service provides a central place for IT to update and distribute virtual desktop images.</li> <li>Finally, the Application Management Service simplifies app delivery and updates by separating them from desktop image management.</li> </ul> VMware executive Shankar Iyer said the new features reduce the complexity of managing Horizon virtual desktops on Azure. They should also help IT staffs maintain the performance of the desktops. Forrester Research analyst William McKeon-White agreed, saying the enhancements could make the Horizon product more attractive to the growing number of potential buyers. Analysts said more companies are turning to virtual desktops as an efficient way to secure, manage and deliver the business applications used by corporate employees <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Getting-ready-for-the-new-normal-of-hybrid-working">working from home</a>. Microsoft Azure is the second-largest infrastructure-as-a-service provider in the U.S., behind AWS. Therefore, VMware has to have Horizon on Azure, even though Microsoft is a competitor in the virtual desktop market. "VMware is saying we want to go where our customers are going," said Enterprise Strategy Group analyst Mark Bowker. This month, Microsoft launched <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252504447/Microsoft-Windows-365-confuses-tech-buyers">Windows 365</a>, an Azure-based desktop-as-a-service product that runs on the web browser in a Windows PC, Mac or mobile device. Microsoft also sells another product called the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252502437/Microsoft-integrates-virtual-desktop-Azure-Active-Directory">Azure Virtual Desktop</a>. Along with the Horizon update, VMware announced that IT professionals would soon use its Workspace ONE Assist tool to troubleshoot problems in Horizon virtual desktops. Before, IT staff could use the tool to control only <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchmobilecomputing/opinion/VMware-acquires-AetherPal-for-mobile-support-via-screen-viewing-remote-control">mobile devices</a> or physical PCs to fix problems. VMware will release the Workspace ONE Assist update by the end of October. Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) is a division of TechTarget. Mike Gleason is a reporter covering unified communications and collaboration tools. He previously covered communities in the MetroWest region of Massachusetts for the Milford Daily News, Walpole Times, Sharon Advocate and Medfield Press. He has also worked for newspapers in central Massachusetts and southwestern Vermont and served as a local editor for Patch. He can be found on Twitter at @MGleason_TT. VMware's latest Horizon virtual desktop management tools improve the performance of the product on Microsoft Azure. The changes appear in the Horizon Control Plane. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/searchVirtualDesktop/tools_technology/virtualdesktop_article_010.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252504996/VMware-expands-VD-management-tools-for-Microsoft-Azure Fri, 06 Aug 2021 15:45:00 GMT VMware expands VD management tools for Microsoft Azure HP has agreed to buy Teradici, a maker of software that boosts the performance of virtual desktops. The computer maker said the acquisition would lead to higher-performing hosted desktops for customers with remote workers doing computing-intensive tasks. HP announced the deal this week and expected to close the transaction before the end of the year. The company did not disclose financial terms. Teradici is known for its <a href="https://www.teradici.com/pcoip-technology/what-is-pcoip" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PC over IP</a> (PCoIP) protocol, which delivers virtual desktops for high-performance uses, like CAD and 3D rendering. Based in Burnaby, B.C., Canada, the company has partnered with cloud vendors like AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure, and virtual desktop providers like VMware and Amazon WorkSpaces. HP said it would combine Teradici's technology with HP's <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterprisedesktop/news/252474414/HP-rolls-out-new-remote-workstation-product-ZCentral">ZCentral Remote</a> Boost software, which provides remote access to physical workstations. Engineers, animators and video editors could use the combined product to access their desktops using a PC, Mac, iPad or Android tablet. HP expects the deal to help it capture a share of the projected growth in the remote desktop market. Research firm <a href="https://www.knowledge-sourcing.com/report/global-remote-access-software-market" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Knowledge Sourcing Intelligence</a> predicts the market will expand by 15.7% a year through 2026, driven partly by hybrid work. According to a <a href="https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/covid-19/us-remote-work-survey.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PricewaterhouseCoopers survey</a>, 55% of employees intend to <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Getting-ready-for-the-new-normal-of-hybrid-working">work from home</a> at least three days a week. "[Teradici] will expand our addressable market, and meet growing customer needs for more mobile, flexible and secure computing solutions," said Alex Cho, an HP president. Enterprise Strategy Group analyst Mark Bowker said the move positions HP to benefit from the upcoming release of Microsoft's desktop as a service, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252503989/Microsoft-puts-its-OS-in-the-cloud-with-Windows-365">Windows 365</a>. Bowker said he believes many HP customers will consider the Microsoft product to support remote workers. "They can take an HP endpoint with Teradici PCoIP, connect it to Windows 365 and optimize the experience," Bowker said. Florida Atlantic University is one of Teradici's customers. The college uses the PCoIP protocol to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/feature/What-virtualized-GPU-technology-is-doing-for-VDI">provide students with remote access to 3D apps</a>. Mahesh Neelakanta, the university's director of technical services, said he saw the acquisition as a positive. "I do think that HP would bring fresh perspective, money and vision in a field that is filling up fast with competitors," he said. Neelakanta added that he would like to see HP improve Teradici's protocol service by delivering it to a browser running a virtual desktop, rather than through a separate client. Mike Gleason is a reporter covering unified communications and collaboration tools. He previously covered communities in the MetroWest region of Massachusetts for the Milford Daily News, Walpole Times, Sharon Advocate and Medfield Press. He has also worked for newspapers in central Massachusetts and southwestern Vermont and served as a local editor for Patch. He can be found on Twitter at @MGleason_TT. Teradici would provide HP with technology to help customers bolster the performance of their virtual desktops. HP expects to close the deal this year. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/container_g1128254725.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchvirtualdesktop/news/252504602/HP-to-buy-Teradici-to-improve-virtual-desktop-delivery Wed, 28 Jul 2021 18:01:00 GMT HP to buy Teradici to improve virtual-desktop delivery Search Virtual Desktop Resources and Information from TechTarget 60 webmaster@techtarget.com