MokaFive launches version 2 of its MokaFive Suite

Desktop virtualization (the combination of access virtualization, application virtualization and/or processing virtualization for client-side deployment) has not gotten the intense industry attention that its cousin, server virtualization, has and yet, a number of suppliers have pegged their hopes and dreams to that nascent market. MokaFive is one of those suppliers. I've posted about MokaFive on a number of occasions and have been overly creative with the company's name (see Moka5 - a different take on application virtualization and Mokafive Version 1.)

What MokaFive has to say about its product

MokaFive™ today (June 22nd) announced the 2.0 version of its desktop virtualization technology in the form of MokaFive Suite, a Desktop-as-a-Service platform for the enterprise. MokaFive Suite extends the company’s existing cross-platform, self-healing hosted desktop service, giving organizations of any size the ability to host a secure desktop management solution within their premises. MokaFive Suite marks a turning point in desktop virtualization, offering an enterprise-ready platform that provides persistent user personalization while giving IT organizations complete policy-based control..

MokaFive’s robust management capabilities make it easy for IT administrators to centrally create, deliver, secure and update a fully contained virtual desktop, called a LivePC, to thousands of users. LivePC images run locally, so end users simply download their secure virtual desktop via a Web link, and run it on any computer (Macintosh, Linux or Windows). IT administrators apply updates and patches to the single golden image and MokaFive automatically distributes the differentials to each LivePC.

MokaFive Suite integrates with existing enterprise infrastructure such as Active Directory and software distribution for rapid set up and maximum leverage of current investments. Enterprise companies using MokaFive Suite experience a significantly lower total cost of ownership due to a small datacenter footprint, quick deployment, and simplified management.

Unlike any other desktop virtualization solution, MokaFive enables end users to customize their virtual corporate desktop with personalized data, settings and even applications. MokaFive’s proprietary layered management approach allows IT administrators to create, deliver, patch and update the corporate OS and applications while persisting the user specific customizations. This approach enables IT to define a single image that can be customized for groups and further personalized by individual users, providing all the benefits of central management with the power of mass customization.

MokaFive Suite provides a rich set of capabilities and policy controls, which allow IT administrators to define levels of lockdown based on targeted groups. Organizations are able to protect corporate assets and ensure compliance against regulatory and corporate guidelines, irrespective of where the user is accessing the corporate data from home, work or on the go. In addition to reducing the risk of non-compliance and data breaches, MokaFive can keep business running with instantaneous deployment of corporate environments in the case of a disaster. Desktop management costs are reduced thanks to a unique self-healing feature that provides users with the ability to recover from failures by simply restarting their LivePC. This reverts the corporate operating system and applications to their original pristine state while persisting user applications, settings and data. MokaFive provides the mobility and user flexibility of an open, unlocked desktop for the security and cost of a locked down desktop, which can result in a 42 percent savings in desktop management costs according to Gartner’s latest Desktop Total Cost of Ownership report.

Snapshot Analysis

Although a number of suppliers have been flogging the idea of desktop virtualization for quite some time, the idea just hasn't caught on broadly. Here are some thoughts on why that is the case:

• Organizations have fewer servers than client systems. It is easier to attack virtualization in the datacenter than in each and every local and remote office.
• "Desktop virtualization" really is a collection of technologies in several layers of the Kusnetzky Group model. So, the use of this phrase is inherently confusing. Only those who had an intense need would wade into the marsh of confusion to find a solution.
• Organizations needed simple, easy to use approaches that didn't necessarily require a wholesale replacement of their client devices.

MokaFive faces competition, large and small, and each of these competitors offers a different mix of capabilities and functions.

Unasked for, shoot-from-the-hip advice

MokaFive, it really is important to help customers and the industry as a whole understand what desktop virtualization is and how they will benefit through its use. It appears that you've developed some interesting technology. That's a great first step.

The next step ought to be a multi-channel, multimedia campaign to help the market become aware of desktop virtualization and its benefits, become interested in what it could do for them and then they might take action.  Why not create a series of Webinars, Podcasts, Papers, videos, etc. showing the problem, the pain that problem is causing and how you (fanfare inserted here) can make that pain go away. Showcase real customer problems and real customers and your program will have a great deal more impact.