Virtualisation solves many ills

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More and more companies are starting to look at virtualisation as a viable way of alleviating security concerns, and as a means to make it easier for them to re-negotiate previously inflexible outsourcing arrangements, according to Citrix.

And, in response to the increased demand for desktop virtualisation, the company plans to announce a new product, called Desktop Broker, at its iForum customer event at the end of this month.

It believes that businesses are getting more and more concerned about the security implications caused by changing market dynamics such as mobile and flexible working and outsourcing.

"Laptops hold data and applications that contain sensitive information that is exposed to loss or theft," said Calvin Hsu, a product marketing manager specialising in virtualisation for Citrix.

"If someone steals that device they have all day to play around and hack it, even if the data is encrypted."

And, given recent outsourcing security scares, organisations are becoming reluctant to hand over the reins to someone else, according to Citrix.

"Credit card companies and banks let [outsourcers] access records but thought virtualisation they can greatly reduce the possibility of theft as they can make certain access rights such as no floppy disk," Hsu said.

He said this would also make it easier for companies to terminate unsatisfactory contracts as they would not be worried about the added burden of equipment installed at the outsourcer's site.

Many companies think about virtualisation mainly at the server or storage level and, much research has been conducted to confirm the obvious benefits in these areas.

However, Hsu believes that virtualisation should be approached in a more layered way, right down to the application layer and up to the data centre.

Predicting the impending boom in users' appetite for virtualisation, Citrix will unveil details about its new product in the coming weeks.

"This is a case of back to the future for us. This is where we started," said Hsu.

With the new offering, Citrix hopes to address users' requirements for both shared desktop functionality for task-based workers and dedicated functionality where features are determined per user.

The new product will also tackle traditional issues such as session management and printing, concluded Hsu.

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