W H I T E P A P E R

D r i v i n g P r o d u c t i v i t y w i t h t h e A n y w h e r e , A n y t i m e V i r t u a l D e s k t o p

Sponsored by: Citrix and Wyse

Ian Song Tom Mainelli

May 2011

I D C O P I N I O N

Today's IT departments have smaller staffs, tighter budgets, and an increasingly

complex installed base composed of aging PCs with outdated operating systems

(OSs). Many are struggling just to keep things running, let alone making the desktop

environment better for users. Vendors have long promised harried IT managers that

thin clients and virtual computing could help them make sense of it all, and for years

the real-world solutions in the market have fallen short due to hardware and software

limitations. That's changed with maturing desktop computing models and the

introduction of a new generation of endpoints. Specifically, IDC believes that:

� Virtual client computing (VCC) can benefit most organizations. VCC is a client

computing model comprising a handful of technologies — including the much-

discussed centralized virtual desktop (CVD, also known as VDI) — that aim to

improve the overall desktop management paradigm. Traditionally, these

technologies have been rather complex to implement. In recent years, core VCC

technologies, including virtualization and management software, have markedly

matured. Today, a more streamlined design, combined with savvier end users,

makes the VCC model much easier for IT to consume. As a result, IDC expects

VCC market revenue to grow from $1.5 billion in 2010 to more than $2.2 billion

by 2014.

� The latest end-user devices used to access the VCC model have also matured.

Customers now have choices in selecting specific devices to access virtualized

sessions. IDC believes that many organizations will still utilize some PCs — often

repurposed from their existing installed base — to access VCC sessions during

pilot programs. However, as more firms begin full-scale rollouts, IDC expects an

increasing percentage to deploy new thin-client endpoints. These devices offer a

level of cost savings, security, manageability, and green benefits that today's

PCs simply cannot match. All told, IDC estimates that the worldwide thin-client

market itself will grow from 3.8 million units in 2010 to 8.3 million units in 2015,

with revenue increasing from $1.3 billion to $2.2 billion during that same time

period.

� Strong partnerships are the key to success. Regardless of the size of a company,

few can travel far down the path of virtualizing their desktop environments

without trusted hardware and software partners that can help illustrate the

benefits, and navigate the potential pitfalls, of implementing VCC.

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I N T H I S W H I T E P A P E R

This white paper discusses the benefits of VCC, including the technology's ability to

offer increased worker productivity, enhanced data security, greater energy savings,

and an improved return on investment (ROI) over traditional computing models. It

explores the challenges facing companies looking to implement the technology,

forecasts some of the related technology markets, and examines the real-world

benefits enjoyed by six forward-looking organizations that have already rolled out

VCC.

S I T U AT I O N O V E R V I E W

The VCC model accomplishes its intended benefits by moving either the users'

desktop operating system and/or some of their applications off the local desktop and

into the datacenter to be accessed by users over a network. The potential benefits of

this shift include enhanced data security, easier desktop manageability (resulting in

greater uptime), and increased worker productivity because employees can access

their virtual desktop from just about any connected device (including their own, which

opens up the possibility of BYOPC — bring your own PC — programs within an

organization). Other potential benefits include greater IT flexibility, lower power and

management costs, and real hardware savings based on the implementation of

simpler endpoints that cost less than a standard PC.

What company — and IT organization — wouldn't be excited by these prospects?

However, once the enthusiasm passes and corporations set about actually

implementing VCC, they realize the complexity of the task before them. Often the

difficulty stems from the lack of basic understanding about the various technologies

that make up VCC. And sometimes it's as simple as not knowing which vendors to

partner with.

V i r t u a l C l i e n t C o m p u t i n g T e c h n o l o g i e s

Many companies (and IT professionals) fail to realize that VCC is simply an umbrella

term that covers all the major technologies involved. Understanding the major

technologies that make up VCC is one of the keys to making successful IT decisions.

IDC categorizes VCC into four buckets: centralized virtual desktop, distributed virtual

desktop, application virtualization, and virtual user session (VUS). In this paper, IDC

focuses on CVD- and VUS-based solutions.

©2011 IDC #228301 3

Centralized Virtual Desktop

Much of the heat and light surrounding VCC today is around the centralized virtual

desktop (CVD, also referred to as virtual desktop infrastructure or VDI). CVD is a form

of server-based computing that utilizes a server-grade hypervisor to host multiple

unique and isolated virtual desktops in the datacenter environment. CVD delivers

these virtual desktops to end-user devices via a network (see Figure 1). Examples of

CVD solutions include Citrix XenDesktop and VMware View.

F I G U R E 1

Cen t r a l i z e d V i r t u a l D e s k t o p

Source: IDC, 2011

Virtual User Session

VUS is a mature server-based computing model that creates a shared environment to

host multiple users from a single operating system. Each user gets access to his/her

own profile and instance of installed applications. VUS software can be delivered to

an end-user device via the network; the only requirement for the device being support

for the protocol rendering the virtual environment. That means hardware can be

anything from a full PC to a traditional thin client to a smartphone (see Figure 2).

Examples of VUS solutions include Citrix XenApp, a component of XenDesktop, and

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS).

4 #228301 ©2011 IDC

F I G U R E 2

V i r t u a l U s e r S e s s i o n

Source: IDC, 2011

E n d p o i n t D e v i c e s

The VCC model supports an array of different devices that can act as the endpoint

user device. Depending on the organization's client virtualization strategy and

budgetary constraints, one or more of the following devices may be leveraged.

Full PCs/Thick Clients

A full PC, or thick client, is currently the most widely used method of implementing the

VCC model because of the wide availability, existing install base, and relative ease of

setup. To turn a PC into a VCC endpoint, companies simply install a session/agent

application on the existing local operating system. Utilizing a full PC for client

virtualization can extend the life cycle of the device, thereby reducing total cost of

ownership. However, IDC believes that full PCs are not the optimal endpoint devices

for the VCC model, as they remain susceptible to the same hardware failure risks,

require the same desktop management schemes, are susceptible to security flaws,

and utilize the same amount of power as a non-VCC-enabled PC.

Instead of merely installing an application on a PC's existing operating system, some

companies transform their old computers into what we call a stateless PC. This is

accomplished by removing the local operating system and installing a small footprint

thin-client OS. This can improve the manageability and security of the hardware,

driving a more attractive cost story. However, such a PC is still vulnerable to the

same hardware issues and has the power requirements of a standalone PC.

©2011 IDC #228301 5

Thin Clients

A thin client is a low-cost device that utilizes a small footprint, embedded operating

system. Thin clients depend upon other more powerful devices, such as a server, to

accomplish computing tasks. The life cycle for a thin-client device is usually 5–10

years because the hardware typically consists of embedded processors, memory,

and software but does not include a spinning hard drive. Thin-client devices,

especially when utilized for client virtualization, form a single point of failure at the

server, thus becoming extremely reliable. Additionally, thin-client devices have

recently begun to gain processing power and are able to perform certain tasks locally,

lessening the burden on the server. Thin-client devices can offer many other benefits,

including durability in harsh environments, security from external threats, and

dramatically lower power requirements than a standard PC. A common criticism of

thin clients is that they're often not thin enough, as their embedded operating system

must still be managed and updated regularly.

Zero Clients

Zero clients are defined by IDC as thin clients with no OS because the devices do not

include an embedded operating system. Instead, they connect to the network upon

power-on, begin the networking protocol, and then handle the display of the server's

output and user I/O. Zero clients are attractive because they require next to zero local

maintenance because their desktop OS is completely server based, whereas typical

thin clients have a locally stored OS that must be managed in a similar fashion to that

of a full PC. Zero clients also offer additional benefits, including increased security

and easier remote hardware management (replacing a failed device means simply

swapping it out for a new one).

Mobile Clients

Mobile clients can be either hardware or software based. Hardware-based mobile

clients are also known as mobile thin clients; they are usually thin-client notebook

PCs with embedded software and hardware. Software-based mobile clients are

typically remote session software running on mobile devices, such as mobile phones,

tablets, and notebook PCs. As mobile devices continue to gain popularity within the

enterprise, software-based mobile clients such as Wyse PocketCloud, Citrix Receiver,

and VMware iPad Client are gaining rapid traction.

C u r r e n t M a r k e t T r e n d s

IDC expects the VCC market will continue an upward growth trend through 2014.

Total customer count is expected to continue to rise well into the second half of the

decade. As the VCC model continues to mature, it will become increasingly

applicable to greater parts of organizations and a greater breadth of industry verticals

beyond the typical healthcare, finance, government, and education that dominate the

VCC market today.

IDC forecasts three different types of VCC technologies independently: VUS,

application virtualization (not discussed here) and CVD. As these technologies

mature, they are more and more likely to be deployed in conjunction with one

6 #228301 ©2011 IDC

another. Ultimately, the vendors that can seamlessly integrate the solutions to the

right user will be positioned to dominate this market.

It should be noted that while VUS software is relatively mature, CVD and application

virtualization are in their respective emerging phases. IDC expects both CVD and

application virtualization to continue in a high-growth period. As such, forecasts of the

CVD and application virtualization market size have a higher expected variance than

that of the VUS market.

Figures 3 and 4 show IDC's worldwide CVD and VUS revenue forecasts.

F I G U R E 3

Wo r l dw i d e V i r t u a l C l i e n t C ompu t i n g So f twa r e : C en t r a l i z e d

V i r t u a l D e sk t o p R e v enue F o r ec a s t , 2 0 10 – 20 14

Source: IDC, 2011

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©2011 IDC #228301 7

F I G U R E 4

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S e s s i o n R e v enue F o r e c a s t , 2 01 0 – 20 1 4

Source: IDC, 2011

Figure 5 shows IDC's worldwide thin-client forecast through 2015.

F I G U R E 5

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Source: IDC, 2011

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8 #228301 ©2011 IDC

T H E C I T R I X A N D W Y S E P A R T N E R S H I P

Citrix and Wyse are veterans in their respective fields, with a partnership that

stretches back to 1995. Citrix was the first company to develop a multiuser Windows

environment in the mid-1990s. Wyse has been making enduser access devices since

1980. Citrix's and Wyse's respective solutions naturally complement each other, and

the two companies have worked together extensively to drive the growth of the end-

user computing market.

The arrival of the VCC model has created another opportunity for Citrix and Wyse to

deepen their relationship. Citrix and Wyse are driving the development of VCC

solutions, at the same time simplifying the adoption of the underlying technologies.

The Citrix XenDesktop and Wyse Xenith zero-client product combination, discussed

more fully in the case studies, is a strong example of how the Citrix/Wyse

collaboration is driving the VCC market.

A b o u t C i t r i x

Citrix has been a major player in the client virtualization market since 1990 with its

VUS technologies (XenApp/Presentation Server). Since then, Citrix has entered the

CVD market with its XenDesktop solution, which also includes VUS, application

virtualization, local virtual desktop, and desktop streaming technologies. Its entry into

the CVD market space was enhanced in 2007 with its acquisition of XenSource.

XenDesktop is hypervisor agnostic, meaning that it can run on any major hypervisor

platform. XenDesktop leverages Citrix's existing desktop management and protocol

experiences, networking expertise, and robust partner ecosystem to ensure that it can

meet most customer requirements.

With XenDesktop, Citrix is focused on delivering desktops and applications while

enhancing the user experience. XenDesktop can scale from supporting a handful of

users to upwards of tens of thousands of users. Citrix now has the capability to

deliver CVD to most end-user devices — from PCs, Macs, and thin/zero clients to

media tablets and smartphones — via its Citrix Receiver products. Citrix FlexCast

technology can identify and optimize the right desktop and application delivery

technology for each use and device type, and the Citrix HDX protocol helps ensure a

top-quality multimedia experience for each end user.

In addition, Citrix's networking appliances, such as Branch Repeater and NetScaler,

are aimed at minimizing bandwidth requirement, thus improving user experience.

A b o u t W y s e

Wyse's hardware portfolio consists of thin clients, zero clients, cloud PCs, and mobile

clients. Wyse thin clients are available with a wide range of embedded operating

systems, including Windows CE, Windows XP Embedded, Windows Embedded

Standard 2009, Windows Embedded Standard 7, Linux, and Wyse's own ThinOS. In

addition to offering a multitude of desktop-focused thin-client form factors, Wyse also

offers mobile thin clients. These devices look like a standard notebook but operate

like a thin client. In 2010, Wyse introduced the Xenith zero client. Designed to work

©2011 IDC #228301 9

with Citrix XenDesktop, it offers desktop-level performance with no local configuration

or management of the endpoint needed.

In addition to hardware, Wyse also has a portfolio of virtualization, cloud, and

management software solutions aimed at improving the VCC model. The Wyse

Device Manager (WDM) for thin clients lets IT manage as many as 100,000

simultaneously connected devices, and the Wyse Configuration Manager (WCM)

software automates the configuration of new clients, reducing or eliminating the labor

associated with deploying thin devices. The Wyse TCX Software Suite is a set of

solutions that can improve the VCC experience by dividing the workload between the

server and client devices. The Wyse Virtual Desktop Accelerator (VDA) is a solution

that optimizes the available bandwidth and thus delivers better user experience while

reducing bandwidth requirements. Wyse cloud software includes Wyse WSM, a

server technology that supports cloud PCs, a distributed computing model just like the

PC, but with significant benefits in cost, security, and management. Wyse also has a

solution called Wyse PC Extender for organizations that want to turn their old PCs

into thin-client devices. Finally, the Wyse PocketCloud is an application that lets users

access their PC, remote desktop services, a terminal server, or a virtual machine from

their portable iOS- or Android-based device.

C A S E S T U D I E S

To better illustrate how the partnership between Citrix and Wyse can benefit IT

providers interested in implementing a VCC model, IDC interviewed six organizations

currently rolling out solutions from both companies. While each organization clearly

had its own specific set of requirements, all six noted that the rollout of a combined

Citrix/Wyse solution has led to demonstrable improvements in both end-user

satisfaction and IT management load. Freed from the day-to-day requirements of

managing PCs, these IT organizations found themselves focusing instead on ways to

further improve the user experience — a task any IT manager would be happy to

tackle.

R o c k l i n U n i f i e d S c h o o l D i s t r i c t

Like IT staffs in most organizations these days, the IT staff of Rocklin Unified School

District in Rocklin, California, has been forced to do more with less. Tight budgets

mean the district's 3,500 desktops (serving 11,000 users) remain in service for seven

to eight years. With over 200 file servers and another 100 switches also in service,

the district's small IT staff found itself struggling just to keep things running, with little

time to devote to improving the end-user experience. When it came time to outfit a

brand-new school with desktops, Network Administrator Steve Bradley decided it was

time to shake things up.

"We've been running Citrix for years, and we'd been contemplating virtual desktops

for the past couple of years. When Wyse announced the Xenith zero client, it seemed

like a good time to make the move," Bradley said.

10 #228301 ©2011 IDC

Having tested traditional thin clients in the past, Bradley said that he was especially

excited about what the Xenith brought to the table. "The problem for us is that setting up

and maintaining a thin client isn't much different from setting up a fat client, " he said. "It

is a time-consuming process." The Xenith, he said, offered exactly what he wanted from

an endpoint: simplicity. "It's so simple [that] we can have a teacher plug it in and it just

works," he said. Bradley and his staff tested the mettle of the Xenith by rolling it out in the

new computer labs and in every administrative office of the district's newest elementary

school. The results have been extremely positive, for both users and the IT staff.

There has been very little pushback from the users, who adapted quickly to the

platform, Bradley said. And his IT staff loves the zero clients because from a

management standpoint, they require a lot less maintenance work than a PC. Plus,

he expects dramatically fewer hardware issues to crop up as Xenith ages. "The

Xeniths don't have hard drives that will inevitably fail," he said. "As long as we keep

them connected to the network, they'll just work."

While Rocklin hasn't yet completed an extensive ROI study, a little back-of-the-napkin

math shows a win-win for the school district with its initial purchase of 180 endpoints.

"I've typically paid about $1,500 per desktop because we require business-grade

PCs," Bradley said. "The Xeniths each cost us less than $400, and we bought three

new servers to support them at $12,000 each. So right out of the gate, we're saving a

fortune on hardware."

Many organizations will see some (or all) of that hardware savings eaten up by higher

up-front software costs when implementing CVD. But because Rocklin had some of

the necessary back-end hardware and Citrix software infrastructure in place — the

district has been running the company's XenApp for years — Bradley was able to

begin rolling out CVD without any additional major outlays.

After his early success with Citrix and Wyse, Bradley now plans to roll out Xeniths

across the school district, replacing PCs as they reach the end of their useful life.

"Realistically, to swap out the entire district will take five to seven years," Bradley

said. "At that point, no more than 10% will be fat clients. And as the technology

evolves, that number might be even smaller."

S e a t t l e C h i l d r e n ' s H o s p i t a l

The IT team at Seattle Children's Hospital has two important jobs: First, it has to work

(all the time, and under sometimes extreme conditions). Second, it can never become

a distraction to the doctors, nurses, and staff whose complete attention must be

devoted to their young patients. Back in early 2010, the hospital's aging installed base

of PCs wasn't doing either job very well, so when the IT team began to make plans for

a major PC refresh, it decided to try something different — namely, a new CVD

infrastructure based upon Citrix XenDesktop and Wyse Xenith zero clients.

"We looked at another software vendor's solutions, and we found the level of maturity

was not there to meet all of our requirements," said Jake Hughes, Citrix IT architect at

the hospital. "And we had serious concerns about the software's ability to scale to the

3,000, 4,000, and 5,000 seat marks we expect to achieve. Then we looked at Citrix

©2011 IDC #228301 11

and found it met or exceeded all of our requirements, plus it allowed us to leverage

much of the Citrix infrastructure we had in place for our XenApp environment."

"The next step in the process was choosing an endpoint," Hughes said. After

examining thin-client products from multiple vendors, Hughes contacted Wyse and

described exactly what he sought. "I didn't want a thin client that forced me to

continue to maintain an OS out in the client environment," he said. "I wanted to get rid

of patch Tuesdays. And I didn't want to have to pay for an OS license for the endpoint

and for the virtual desktop on the server."

The Xenith didn't exist during that initial conversation with Wyse, but when the

company later demonstrated the device for Hughes, he knew it was exactly what the

hospital required. "The decision to buy was made very quickly after we saw the Wyse

Xenith," he said. "It does exactly what we want, and only what we want. We don't

have to trim out stuff we don't want or need. We evaluated for less than two weeks,

and then we purchased 3,000 of them."

Over the course of about six months, the rollout of the Wyse Xenith/Citrix XenDesktop

combination progressed quickly from proof of concept to pilot stage to a full

production environment. In addition to clinical spaces throughout the hospital, one of

the first areas to receive the new endpoints was the emergency department. "This is

one of the most intense and critical workflows in the hospital, and they're benefiting

greatly from being able to move fast from station to station," Hughes said. Another

benefit of the Xenith, in addition to its lower cost, is its slim profile (when attached to

the back of a monitor), which allowed Hughes' team to install new workstations in

places where it couldn't fit one before. As a result, more open stations are in more

places, allowing staff members to do their jobs more efficiently.

The positive reaction from doctors, nurses, and support personnel in the clinical areas

and emergency department has helped spur interest from other departments. As a

result, Hughes' team is rolling out new endpoints as fast as it can. "We're on a journey

to replace upwards of 5,000 workstations. We expect that certain users and certain

stations will continue to require PCs, but we hope to have an installed base of 90% to

95% Xeniths when we're done."

The success of the Citrix/Wyse combination has led to one additional happy side

effect: less grumbling about IT. "Healthcare has a reputation for any changes being

difficult, and we've often fallen prey to doing IT for IT's sake," Hughes said. "As a

result, we've been guilty of distracting doctors with IT concerns when they should be

focusing on the kids. With Xenith, it has been completely painless. To them, they're

still logging into a PC at their desk. It just so happens that this PC moves with them

throughout the hospital. It looks, feels, and behaves just like their PC. And to me,

that's a big win."

S t . A n n e S c h o o l

At St. Anne School in Laguna Niguel, California, expectations run high. Parents of

students at the private school expect high performance from the students, the faculty,

and the facilities. Faced with an aging fleet of 450 Windows XP desktops, St. Anne

School IT Manager Joe Kemp found it increasingly difficult to offer students a

12 #228301 ©2011 IDC

high-quality computing experience. So he did what any good teacher would do: He

got creative, and he made the leap to CVD with Citrix and Wyse.

"I had heard a lot of great things about Windows 7 and XenDesktop together,

including raves about the improved user experience including multimedia," Kemp

said. "For us, multimedia is key because in addition to standard applications such as

Microsoft Word and Excel, our kids spend a great deal of time running Flash-based

educational games."

After the school conducted a close examination of the leading CVD software

applications, Citrix was an easy choice. "The biggest thing for us was the HDX

technology," Kemp said. "Simply put, without HDX, we couldn't do it. End of story."

After the school chose Citrix, the decision to go with Wyse was similarly easy, he

said. "We picked them because they have a great reputation and because we knew

they have a strong relationship with Citrix. And I knew that I could count on great

support from both companies down the road."

Initially, Kemp rolled out Wyse C90LEW thin clients with an embedded operating

system. Those endpoints continue to work very well, but when Wyse introduced the

Xenith zero client in 2010, Kemp said that he knew that he would use the devices for

the remainder of his deployment. "The Xeniths are even easier to manage, and the

multimedia experience is still fantastic," he said. "Plus, the log-in experience is even

better because you don't have the double log-in experience that you do on a thin

client with an embedded operating system. So the log-in time is shorter."

In addition, managing the new endpoints has proven to be remarkably straightforward

and efficient. "We've had zero problems, despite the fact that the specialty education

software we use can be very difficult to support," Kemp said. We used to deal with

software updates every week, and getting the updates to all the desktops could be

very tricky." "Now I update everything the same day it comes out, and the next time

the students boot up, they get the new version of the software." Plus, the robust

nature of the Xenith has meant that his staff spends less time troubleshooting

hardware issues. "We used to have failing hard drives and power supplies each

week. None of that happens now," he added.

One issue that organizations that are considering CVD must realize is that despite the

low cost of the endpoints, software and server-side upgrades mean they'll likely

spend more up front than if they just replaced their old PCs with new ones. But the

real-world returns on investment become immediately obvious. From zero downtime

to power savings to longer endpoint life spans, Kemp expects the Wyse/Citrix

combination to lead to dramatic cost savings over the long haul.

"Faster log-on times, excellent multimedia playback, and dramatically less downtime

has made the Citrix/Wyse combination a huge hit with both teachers and students,"

Kemp said. "My biggest measure of success is the user experience, and they love it.

They're able to log in within 60 seconds instead of the five minutes the old PCs used

to take. The performance is worlds above what they had before, and everything is

super fast and responsive."

©2011 IDC #228301 13

C e n t e n e

Centene is a big company with an even bigger footprint. Its more than 3,800

employees offer Medicaid managed care and specialty services such as life and

health management in 14 U.S. states. The IT staff is based at company headquarters

in St. Louis, Missouri. It is tasked with providing each remote employee with the same

level of service that local users enjoy, but without expanding the IT staff regionally.

To accomplish this goal, the company turned to its longtime partner Citrix for help.

"Centene has been running Citrix XenApp for years," said Project Lead Jamie Lin.

"It enabled a centrally managed platform with Windows applications delivered from

the datacenter."

Selecting Citrix as the application virtualization platform allowed Centene to take

advantage of Citrix's WAN-friendly ICA protocol, as well as its optimization

technologies, such as its Branch Repeater and NetScaler products.

To complement XenApp, Centene selected Wyse thin clients to replace many of its

physical PCs. According to Lin, the thin client not only eliminated PC hardware

management issues but also enabled users to help themselves. "We realized that 25%

of our help desk calls were password resets, but with the Wyse thin clients, users can

reset their own passwords," he said.

Centene has replaced the PCs of about 2,350 employees with Wyse V10LE and

R10L thin clients, and by the time the project is finished, Lin expects about 80% of

users to be on thin clients. Lin said that by implementing a centrally provisioned and

managed user environment with Citrix and Wyse solutions, Centene was able to

achieve a tangible result of $800 savings per PC replaced. Additional savings have

emerged thanks to lower power consumption, increased infrastructure utilization, and

better utilization of IT staff. "We can now replace a user's PC with a thin client in less

than 10 minutes and then manage the user from the datacenter," Lin said.

Another reason Centene opted to use Wyse endpoints was their compatibility with

Citrix' XenDesktop. After a successful pilot, the company is now actively rolling out

XenDesktop. Currently there are about 350 XenDesktop users, and Lin said he

expects that number to grow to well over 1,000 in the next few months. "We actually

have a backload of requests for XenDesktop," he said. "It's a great problem to have:

Instead of IT pushing projects, we actually have end users pulling."

Strong word of mouth is clearly driving demand among employees, Lin said. "People

currently using the Wyse/Citrix configurations are very happy, and feedback has been

very positive," he said. "It is clear that most enjoy the mobility offered by client

virtualization, and they really appreciate the fact that they don't have to drive in a

snowstorm to work anymore."

14 #228301 ©2011 IDC

H am p t o n S c h o o l

Founded in 1557, the Hampton School in London, England, has been teaching

boys for more than 450 years. Too often, institutions with such a rich history

find themselves looking backward instead of forward, but the administration at

Hampton School takes pride in having a clear focus on the future, too. For example,

the school was among the first in the United Kingdom to install solar panels on the

roofs and wind turbines on its grounds, making it one of the United Kingdom's first

carbon-neutral campuses. That same forward-looking vision led the school, in 2010,

to issue each incoming student a virtual desktop.

"Every student — 1,200 total — has a virtual desktop that they can access from

anywhere in the school using our Wyse endpoints," said IT Manager Ian Trevena.

"And we're going to roll out iPads to each student in the near future."

Virtual desktops offer many benefits for students, from easy access to their files and

homework (at school and at home) to better security to regular backups, Trevena

said. "But probably the most important benefit is that the students really like it," he

said. "They get a clean machine every time they boot, so it's always a good

experience for them."

"Hampton School has been running Citrix software for more than six years, using it to

deploy more than 150 teaching applications in the classrooms," Trevena said. When

the IT department decided it was time to roll out virtual desktops, Citrix was the easy

choice. The IT department came upon Wyse after testing and ruling out thin clients

from several other major vendors.

"With some vendors' thin clients, we found the management was overly confusing,"

Trevena said. "Some of the thin-client options would have taken us a month to learn

how to use. We wanted something we could just take out of the box, plug it in, and have

it work."

Hampton started with Wyse thin clients but moved to the Wyse Xenith zero clients

when they became available. "Xenith is just so plug and play," Trevena said. "I can't

see why anyone would do anything different now. They don't go wrong. They don't

get hot. They just work. And everything else seems overly complicated now."

Another huge benefit of the Wyse endpoints is their lower power requirements and

their long expected lifetimes of seven to eight years, Trevena said. Those are

important factors to an organization that prides itself on being green.

At present, the IT staff has rolled out 120 Wyse endpoints at the school (a

combination of thin and zero clients), with plans to install another 250 units in the near

future. "Staff members are still using laptops, and while a few users will likely continue

to require a full PC, most will eventually move to Wyse Xeniths," Trevena said. He

hopes to whittle the number of supported laptops from 117 to about 12. And as far as

IT is concerned, the fewer PCs left in place at the end of this process, the better.

©2011 IDC #228301 15

"We used to constantly be dealing with hardware issues and with Windows flaking,"

Trevena said. "With a small staff of four supporting more than 1,700 people [staff and

students combined], it was a huge and ongoing challenge. With the Wyse and Citrix

endpoints in place, the amount of time we spend troubleshooting hardware has

dropped by about 80%."

Less time spent troubleshooting means his staff now has more time for project

planning. "And when there is a problem, the IT staff can jump on it quickly," he said.

"When the rare problem crops up, our response time is radically improved, so the

perception to the end user is that things are running much more smoothly."

L i b r o

Libro is a music and entertainment retailer in Austria with 226 stores that uses

technology to maintain an edge in the hypercompetitive retail market. With more than

700 employees at corporate headquarters and another 2,000 in remote locations, the

IT team at Libro turned to Citrix and Wyse as it looked to standardize its hardware

and software platforms.

Libro first established a relationship with Citrix when it implemented the company's

XenApp platform. When it came time to investigate CVD technologies, XenDesktop

was an easy choice, said Udo Urbantschitsch, business technology unit manager.

"Citrix had the better package, cost, and support offerings," he said. "One of the

biggest issues for us is the protocol, and Citrix's ICA is more usable over the WAN

than solutions from other vendors." Of the approximately 100 Libro users presently on

XenApp, about 10% use XenDesktop. "The company hopes to increase that first

number to better than 400 over the course of the next year, with roughly the same

percentage using XenDesktop," Urbantschitsch said.

After a pilot program using XenDesktop 4, the company moved its users to

XenDesktop 5 during the next stage of implementation. The IT staff and users have

been very pleased with the results. "XenDesktop 5 is a major improvement, especially

when it comes to administration," Urbantschitsch said. A handful of Libro's IT staff

members are also currently using XenClient, which Urbantschitsch expects the

company to put into production at some point too.

In terms of hardware, Libro selected Wyse based on the company's strong

relationship with Citrix. "Our main strategy going into this project was to support

XenApp, so we selected Wyse's C10LE thin client," Urbantschitsch said. "We're

utilizing Wyse's ThinOS, which is very configurable, and we've been very happy with

the results." Looking ahead, Libro may transition to Xenith for users running

XenDesktop (the hardware wasn't ready when the company began its current rollout).

Regardless of which Wyse endpoint Libro's users end up with, the vast majority of

them have been very pleased with their upgraded desktop experience. "Departments

that are numbers oriented are very happy because, for them, it's actually more

powerful than their previous PC desktops," Urbantschitsch said.

In addition to improving performance, the new Wyse endpoints allowed Libro to

cut hardware investment by half by eliminating desktops. As a result, IT efficiency

16 #228301 ©2011 IDC

improved by 50%. Whereas before IT staff members spent 100% of their time

managing desktops, now they spend less than half that time managing the endpoints.

Another positive development that has resulted from the rollout of the Citrix/Wyse

endpoints is increased user involvement in the IT process. "Desktop virtualization has

increased the users' involvement in deciding the IT road map and strategies such as

mobile access," Urbantschitsch said.

F U T U R E O U T L O O K

The VCC model, especially CVD, has experienced tremendous growth over the past

few years. The software solutions are maturing, and the ecosystem is expanding. The

use case for virtualizing the desktop environment is shifting from tactical to strategic.

Because of this shift, the market for virtual client computing is poised for strong

growth in the next 12–24 months. IDC believes that success stories, such as the ones

in this white paper, will help to facilitate wider adoption of the VCC model.

Service providers can also benefit from the strong growth of VCC. Organizations

without virtualization resources or expertise can effectively outsource their desktop

management to a managed service provider (MSP). These hosted solutions can

reduce the initial investment for a company by requiring minimal onsite datacenter

capacities. The hosted solutions can be deployed quickly, and user management can

be outsourced to the hosting company as well. The user experience with hosted

solutions, without optimization, may not be as good as the user experience with

onsite CVD solutions because of WAN bandwidth limitations (although Citrix does

offer WAN optimization capabilities as part of some solutions). The actual Windows

licensing for hosted solutions at this moment is also a bit hazy.

C H AL L E N G E S / O P P O R T U N I T I E S

One major challenge facing the CVD market is the all-too-true perception that

implementation takes too long. Because the use of CVD is still considered fairly new,

IT organizations often find that testing and proofs of concept take longer and cost

more for CVD technology than for many other technologies that they deploy. While it's

wise to implement a comprehensive testing phase to eliminate any potential surprises

when the technology is put into production, allowing a pilot program to drag on for

months can be equally damaging. Project managers should be tasked with keeping

projects moving at a brisk but workable pace.

Another challenge for the CVD market has to do with costs and unrealistic

expectations. All too often a company's leaders are sold on the concept of CVD

because their IT managers tell them the up-front costs for thin-client endpoint

hardware will be dramatically lower than the up-front costs for full PCs. While this may

be true, often the funds saved on endpoints must be redirected toward back-end

infrastructure improvements. Savvy IT managers should take a conservative

approach regarding both initial costs and ROI estimates with their management

teams. This will ensure that projects are not "oversold" and that the reputation of the

technology is not hindered if certain objectives are not met.

©2011 IDC #228301 17

Yet another challenge facing the CVD model is the potential for pushback from end

users. Accustomed to the power and flexibility of a full desktop PC, many end users

will express displeasure at the idea of using a low-powered endpoint instead. The key

to winning over skeptical users is to be sure that from day one the desktop they

experience via CVD is as good as or better than the one they experienced on their old

PC. Combined with the increased security and flexibility CVD can provide, IT staffs

can quickly win over even the most diehard PC user.

This leads to a clear opportunity: CVD can reduce the tension between IT and client

users, which is typically the result of IT's attempts to manage and secure users' PCs.

CVD allows IT to manage and secure the virtual desktop with less obvious user

interaction than traditional desktops allow. As a result, users feel more free and

experience improved response times and performance with CVD, especially

compared with an aging physical PC. Additionally, CVD can allow users ubiquitous

access to their virtual desktops on any devices, which can improve overall user

satisfaction.

C O N C L U S I O N

Organizations looking to virtualize their client environments should carefully analyze

their own organizational needs and develop a specific client virtualization strategy.

They may then adopt the types of VCC technologies that most appropriately fit their

needs. However, that's not to say that organizations must limit their options to one

specific technology. More often than not, as depicted in this white paper, combining

technologies, both desktops and applications, can drive better results.

C o p y r i g h t N o t i c e

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Copyright 2011 IDC. Reproduction without written permission is completely forbidden.