In-Depth

Surveys: Endpoint Virtualization a Key Technology for 2009

Data center is getting lots of attention, but companies are finding much virtualization business at the endpoints.

• By Keith Ward
• 11/01/2008

Data center virtualization still rules the roost, but it’s starting to get competition from virtualization for end users, according to a new survey from Symantec Corp. on endpoint virtualization. The survey, conducted in October by Applied Research-West Inc., asked 300 IT pros about endpoint virtualization. This was defined by Brad Rowland, Symantec’s director of enterprise marketing for endpoint virtualization, as virtualization for laptops, desktops, virtual desktops and devices like PDAs and smartphones. The survey had some surprising results, including the amount of endpoint virtualization occurring and the value IT managers place on it.

Survey Results
Among the findings was the fact that “76 percent of respondents said their organizations have implemented some form of endpoint virtualization technology into their IT infrastructures.” That includes the categories of application virtualization, application streaming, desktop virtualization and OS streaming. In addition, more than a quarter (28 percent) of respondents said at least 40 percent of their organizations’ IT resources are spent on managing operating system and app delivery to endpoint devices. Of the respondents, 40 percent said their organizations spend at least 21 percent of IT resources on securing endpoint devices.

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What percentage of your organization's IT resources is spent on managing operating system and application delivery to endpoint devices (desktops, laptops, PDAs, smartphones, and so on).

Those trends looked poised to continue into the coming year, even with the slumping economy. More than a third of respondents said at least a quarter (26 percent) of their 2009 IT budget is earmarked for endpoint virtualization initiatives. Rowland says that, even in the current economic climate, “The projects we’re hearing about that are kept on the table are endpoint virtualization [efforts]. Managers are able to see enough value in it [to keep it in the budget for 2009].”

How They Ranked
Microsoft was listed as the top endpoint virtualization provider, with VMware Inc. a distant second at 19 percent, Citrix Systems Inc. at 9 percent, Symantec, surprisingly, at 8 percent, and Sun Microsystems Inc. at 6 percent. Rowland said Microsoft’s numbers were probably a reflection of the popularity of Terminal Services and App-V, formerly known as SoftGrid. The report can be found here.