VDI Without Breaking the Bank: A Common Sense, Cost-Effective Approach

It happens all the time – for all the right reasons, one of our customers is interested in VDI until they see the price. Sticker-shock doesn’t begin to describe the experience one goes through, when looking into traditional VDI for the first time. Many organizations, large and small, understand the operational overhead (i.e. cost) of managing desktops, seeing VDI as a way to both streamline operations and deliver a consistent end-user experience.

VDI also provides remote application and desktop capability, to deliver almost any application to just about any device. Security is another mainstay of VDI, as it allows IT and security professionals to maintain data and applications in a secure datacenter, controlling access through software and potentially never allowing anything other than screen updates and mouse clicks to leave the datacenter.

With all the benefits of VDI, why hasn’t it really taken off? Cost. Put simply, it can be expensive once you consider the higher-end server and storage infrastructure and licensing. Considering the benefits above, it can be hard to put that into an ROI model and have VDI come out cost-effective. Licensing alone, for a VMware or Citrix-based solution could run in the neighborhood of $200,000+ for a 500 user environment. Then factor in the back-end server and storage hardware, some professional services, and you’re realistically looking at $500,000+ for a 500 user environment. As you can see, from this simple example, it would be hard to put together a solid ROI model showing break-even (never mind savings), considering most desktops and even laptops come in at around $800 per unit.

What if you could realize the benefits of VDI and build a cost-effective ROI model? You can. We have a unique and uncomplicated solution, based on Microsoft VDI, which performs very well and has the capability to deliver full desktops, apps only, remote desktop sessions, or “all of the above”. Microsoft VDI still must be licensed, but the cost might surprise you (think 50% less). Certainly, Microsoft VDI might not be for everyone, as VMware and Citrix do offer other value props with advanced features when it comes to protocol maturity and environment management. I couldn’t say that Microsoft VDI “is better” than VMware Horizon or Citrix, but I can say it works well and probably has enough features for many organizations to realize the benefits of VDI without breaking in the bank.

If you are interested in hearing more, contact your account manager or click here. We’re more than happy to discuss how we use modern technology, to accomplish your business goals.