Two IT Trends on a Collision Course?
Don't look now but two of the most powerful trends in IT might be on a collision course: hosted desktop virtualization (a.k.a. VDI) and Web 2.0, both of which have growing importance for enterprise desktops. But let's backtrack a bit. I've been noodling about these issues for some time now, but they sort of crystallized in my mind after a discussion with David Lavenda, VP of marketing with a New York-based company that specializes in enterprise Web 2.0 called WorkLight.
I wanted to speak with David after seeing a statement from WorkLight that flagged my attention. It discussed a survey conducted by another firm (Awareness, Inc) which "claims to show a near-doubling in the numbers of firms happy for their staff to use social media applications during business hours is a sure sign that companies are embracing Web 2.0 services at long last." During the conversation, David made the observation that one of the things driving Web 2.0 acceptance among IT managers is a simple reality: Gen Y workers entering the workforce are judging these companies by how well they've responded to business potential of these capabilites. (Not the first time I've heard this and you may have heard similar reports.)
When I pressed him, however, he acknowledged that some user-defined Web 2.0 activity could be contributing to the burdensome $4,000-$6,000 per desktop per year that it's costing IT shops to manage desktop PCs. That's why I'm suggesting that the strong momentum towards Web 2.0 applications for business use and movement towards locking down enterprise computing using VDI might be countervailing trends. I'll be digging deeper into this one and will, of course, keep you posted.
In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this issue. Post here or send an e-mail to [email protected].
Posted by Tom Valovic on 10/14/2008 at 12:49 PM