866.277.4621
6 NJ-173, Clinton, NJ 08809 
December 6, 2024
by Paul O’Dell, Principal/Sales Director
I am lucky enough to spend the majority of my day talking to current and potential clients about their daily challenges; the things that keep them up at night. And when you have conversations like this over and over, day after day, you see patterns emerge. Every client is different: their size and industry, the skillset of their team, where they were, where they are now, and where they want to go to when it comes to their technology stack. Yet there are common themes that emerge in almost every conversation: Cloud Optimization, AI/Intelligent Automation, Protection and Recovery Technologies, and Tool Sprawl in the Security/IT Management space.
The latest subject to add to that list is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). This is an extremely hot topic right now that I believe is the result of the following:
- COVID. The global pandemic forced clients to quickly transition to a remote workforce environment. Many organizations implemented lightly engineered VDI solutions that they are now somewhat regretting or at least rethinking. This has created a swell of demand to do VDI correctly from an SLA perspective while managing costs more efficiently.
- KKR buying Horizon and creating Omnissa. There is always a significant amount of trepidation when a private equity company buys a tech organization. We’ve seen that playbook before, and it doesn’t always end well for the client base. In fairness, the jury is still out on Omnissa and many folks are in a wait and see mode.
- Citrix Upheaval. Citrix is trying like hell to move everyone to their cloud offering. In the backdrop, however, is the fallout from the massive amounts of turnover the company has had over the last 10 years which has led to a very inconsistent business experience. We love their technology but wish we could talk with the same people about the same accounts for more than 12 months.
- Azure and Azure Virtual Desktop. We love Azure and AVD but wow, it is expensive. The right use cases can make a lot of sense, but they need to be really well defined and with full consideration given to alternatives. If you have long term commitments that can make it more affordable when combined with solutions like Azure Stack from HPE, it is worth considering. Otherwise, there are more cost-efficient alternatives.
- The Ability to Use Different Tech Stacks to Support Different Software Solutions. There is a lot more flexibility today to implement VDI, including:
- 3 Tier Architecture
- Servers, storage and networking all managed independently
- Single Hyper Converged Solution: Everything recipe-based, and internal to a server. The whole stack is managed as a single unit. Examples:
- HPE Simplivity
- VSAN from VMware
- Nutanix
- Azure Stack
- dHCI (Disassociated HCI, such as HPE Alletra; ideal for business-critical application and mixed workloads.)
- 3 tier architecture managed as a single unit and scaled independently
- 3 Tier Architecture
More Options to Put Together a VDI Strategy Right for You
Choosing the right virtual desktop solution depends on your organization’s specific needs and priorities. From a broad perspective, I would characterize the leading options as follows:
- Citrix offers robust performance and comprehensive features but comes with higher costs and complexity.
- Omnissa provides a hybrid DaaS platform with excellent user experience, though it may face scalability and support challenges.
- Azure Virtual Desktop is great in use cases where the client needs wide scale out.
By carefully evaluating the pros and cons of each solution, businesses can make informed decisions that align with their goals and resources. Reach out if you need any more details or have specific questions. Our experienced VDI team is here to help you determine the best fit for your organization.