New Dell service aims to mainstream desktop virtualization projects
As more desktop virtualization solutions (DVS) projects move (or attempt to move) from pilot phase into full-fledged deployments, the Dell services team is introducing an integrated design approach that it believes will help more of them arrive successfully.
The service, called DVS 360 Integrated Design (or 360 Integrated Design), focuses on the work that organizations need to do behind the scenes with existing infrastructure to better integrate virtual desktop infrastructure with existing systems and processes, said Jefferson Raley, porfolio director with the Dell End-User Computing Strategic Consulting Practice.
"When customers adopt desktop virtualization, they know they need servers, networking gear and storage to make this work," Raley said. "Where some have been blind, however, is when it comes to considering the integration changes that need to work in order to make desktop virtualization work." Those considerations include:
- Active Directory design changes or modifications
- The effect on printing processes
- The implications of persistent virtual machines across an enterprise infrastructure
- Certificates
- User data storage policites
- Application compatibility
- Application entitlement
- Network capacity and bandwidth
- Video and audio streaming
- Web access
- Operating sytem and application licensing policies
- USB connections and lock-down measures
- Data migration
The Dell 360 Integrated Design approach is a roadmap methodology designed to "reveal the blind spots" that might exist within an organization. "The reason we built this service is because we saw a lot of implementations that weren't going that well," Raley said.
Over a period of approximately eight weeks (depending on the size of the company), the Dell services team gathers a comprehensive series of information from desktops targeted for virtualization and then uses that information to create an integration plan focused on the foundational changes that might be necessary within existing environments.
The service is just getting off the ground: so far, Dell has worked closely with one major automotive company to help get its desktop virtualization effort back on track, Raley said.