09 Dec 2008

Virtual IT offers business benefits

An industry expert has tipped virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) to prove attractive to business.

Michael Dean, group marketing manger of the National Computing Centre (NCC), said companies can use VDI to provide similar levels of performance compared to traditional fat client technologies, but at a reduced cost.

He commented that application roll-outs are more easily achieved usign VDI and refresh cycles can be extended by several years - which can be a big cost saving for companies.

VDI also offers improved flexibility for businesses because work desktops can be accessed by staff at mobile locations, Mr Dean noted.

Although virtual desktop technology is relatively young, the NCC official suggested that problems should be minimal.

"Virtualisation has been around for some time and is generally considered robust," he said.

Mr Dean's comments come after the NCC Benchmark of IT Strategy 2008 survey showed that close to 90 per cent of firms are planning to implement server virtualisation.