New VDI content on Microsoft.com

There is updated desktop virtualization content at www.microsoft.com/vdi There are a couple of whitepapers and guides to help understand the various approaches and components of a virtualized desktop.

Over the last few months VDI is an area I have been spending a lot of time in, particularly around the joint Microsoft and Citrix VDI solutions.

One of the more interesting aspects of VDI is determining the right mix of technologies to utilize. For large organizations it’s rarely the case that virtualizing all desktops makes sense. At the same time, providing a full PC to all users also doesn’t make much sense if users don’t need it.

The right answer is to find the optimized mix that makes sense for a given organization. Getting there involves understanding your users, your users requirements, the TCO of the various options, etc. With the ability to virtualize the OS, applications, and presentation, the most cost effective solution can be provided to each user group (ex. task workers get a TS/Citrix session and power users get a full PC with apps coming from APP-V, etc)

Over the next couple weeks I’ll be posting more content on this approach as I am in the middle of documenting both the approach and technical guidance for proofs of concept as part of work I am doing for an MCS solution offering.