A report by Springboard Research in June 2011 made an interesting
prediction. It predicted that India’s mobile workforce is
expected to grow 53 percent, reaching 205 million by 2015. It also
said that nearly two-thirds of India’s mobile workforce will
own a smart mobile device by 2015. With the consumer becoming
mobile, enterprises are also following them and are changing their
workplace strategies. This has a profound impact on how enterprises
are deploying enterprise technology and are letting users access
their desktops virtually from their own devices and even homes.
Technology major, Citrix, which has a major focus on desktop
virtualization is riding this huge wave of interest. “The
mobile workforce is one of the biggest trends that is driving the
interest in desktop virtualization. Indian enterprises, primarily
in the IT/ITeS industry are also deploying desktop virtualization
technologies, primarily because they want to better secure their
information. As most IT/ITeS companies deal with their
client’s data, they are using desktop virtualization to
signify their intent on securing information. The third obvious
trend is driving costs down,” explains Sanjay Deshmukh, Area
Vice President, India Subcontinent at Citrix Systems India.
"This has been a fantastic year for us as we have seen a
huge uptake in desktop virtualization projects. In this calendar
year, we have sold more than 1 lakh desktop virtualization licenses
till date"
- Sanjay Deshmukh, Area Vice President, India Subcontinent, Citrix
Systems India
Security of confidential information is undoubtedly one of the
biggest reasons for the surge in desktop virtualization.
“Data security is one of the most important challenges faced
by organization in a competitive world where corporate data theft
as become a realistic threat. The challenge has become even more
difficult with the need for users to be mobile as well as the
advent of portable devices with large disks capacities and
application porting capabilities. Desktop virtualization solutions
enhance security as the administration is centralized. Antivirus or
firewall policies can be applied and monitored from the datacenter.
The applications that can be accessed and run by the users can be
restricted and even tracked,” explains Jayantha Prabhu, Chief
Technology Officer, Essar Group.
Racing on the desktop virtualization
highway
Citrix is capitalizing on this trend, and has sold more than 1 lakh
desktop virtualization licenses in this year. “This has been
a fantastic year for us as we have seen a huge uptake in desktop
virtualization projects. We have signed clients such as Aegis,
Perfetti Van Melle India and Geometric in the desktop
virtualization space,” states Deshmukh.
Another advantage that Citrix has and continues to exploit is the
huge installed base of customers who are already using its
application virtualization solutions, and see desktop
virtualization as a natural progression in their drive towards
being more efficient with reduced costs.
Geometric has already achieved significant benefits by an
initial deployment of 250 desktops, which will further improve with
scale. A cost reduction of Rs 1.2 million (approximately USD
27,000) is anticipated with the deployment of 600 desktops.
Similarly, Aegis, part of the Essar group, has plans to implement
desktop virtualization solutions from Citrix. The potential is
huge, as Aegis has a workforce of more than 50,000 people.
"We have signed a ULA (Unlimited license Agreement) with
Citrix. We are presently rolling out the same in the Mumbai
locations of Mahalaxmi and BKC. We will soon be starting the
implementation at Vadinar and Hazira locations which along with
Mumbai locations contribute to more than 90 percent of the head
count in India."
- Jayantha Prabhu, Chief Technology Officer, Essar Group
“We are planning to implement desktop virtualization across
the Essar Group at all locations. We have signed a ULA (Unlimited
license Agreement) with Citrix. We are presently rolling out the
same in the Mumbai locations of Mahalaxmi and BKC. We will soon be
starting the implementation at Vadinar and Hazira locations which
along with Mumbai locations contribute to more than 90 percent of
the head count in India. Post completion of rollout in Hazira and
Vadinar, we will look at locations like Paradeep, Mahan, etc in
India and international locations in the Americas, UK and
Indonesia,” says Prabhu. .
The desktop virtualization trend is picking up in a big way in the
IT/ITeS segments, as enterprises can enforce rules that ensure
access of information from a central server, leading to better
protection of confidential data. “One of main advantages of
this technology is the ability of the organization to have control
and governance over the corporate data instead of leaving it at the
mercy of the end user. For us, desktop virtualization as a
technology also helps the organization to strengthen its governance
and compliance by giving the capability to monitor, manage and
restrict the applications on the virtual desktop interface,”
explains Prabhu of Essar.
Mobile workforce drives
adoption
With the mobile workforce increasing in a huge way, many
organizations are taking a relook at their workplace policies. A
case in point is Geometric, which is looking to provide end users
access to their virtual desktops from their own devices or from
their homes in the future, and is working towards deploying a
virtual desktop solution for 3D Graphics application. Deshmukh
cites the case of an insurance major, which has identified 1600
users who do not need to be physically present in office, and do
not have customer facing roles. For such companies, desktop
virtualization solutions are ideal, as employees can work from
their homes. This is a win-win situation for both employees and
employers. While employees are saved from the hassle of traveling
and wasting their time in transit, employers save on real estate
costs with the added advantage of lower IT-infrastructure related
costs.
While the number of desktop virtualization licenses sold by
Citrix in just 10 months is huge, Deskhmukh believes that these
numbers represent just the tip of the iceberg of opportunity. IT
service providers continue to employ thousands of professionals
every year. Every programmer requires a desktop, and a significant
percentage of this desktop base gets refreshed every year.
Upgrading and managing this rising base of desktops is a massive
challenge. IT service providers can solve this issue by
implementing virtual desktops.
To put this in perspective, take a look at some statistics
provided by Nasscom. The industry body states that during FY 2011,
direct employment in the IT/ITeS sector, is expected to reach
nearly 2.5 million, which translates into an addition of 240,000
employees. These numbers are for just one year, and when one looks
at the number of people employed by the hundreds of software firms
across the country, one can gauge the scale of the opportunity for
a firm like Citrix.