Desktone Takes Desktop to the Cloud, Breaks Through VDI Barriers 
Desktone’s cloud-based desktop-as-a-service platform is letting Paladin Building Services deploy virtual desktops in the cloud. Desktone’s Desktop Cloud architecture is helping redefine VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) solutions by lowering upfront costs, eliminating complexity and making it easier to scale systems.
Desktone’s cloud-based desktop-as-a-service platform is letting Paladin Building Services deploy virtual desktops in the cloud. Desktone’s Desktop Cloud architecture is helping redefine VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) solutions by lowering upfront costs, eliminating complexity and making it easier to scale systems.
Desktone customer Paladin provides facilities maintenance services for commercial, industrial, retail and residential buildings. Paladin officials decided to outsource its desktop management so it wouldn’t have to hire an in-house IT staff and build a server infrastructure onsite, according to Jeffrey Aibel, CEO of Paladin Building
“We turned to Desktone to provide the infrastructure, management and long-term support of the IT systems we need to run our business, Aibel said in a statement. Desktone’s DaaS provides complete desktop access whether Paladin staff is in the office, on the road or overseas, he added.
Desktone’s Desktone Cloud DaaS allows enterprises to rapidly deploy their desktops on any device, said Peter McKay, Desktone’s CEO. By hosting desktops in the cloud, Desktone helps companies like Paladin quickly and easily deploy virtual desktops for employees on a variety of devices, including PCs, MacBooks and mobile devices, McKay said.
“Removing desktop management concerns allows enterprises to stay focused on building their business, and not on building the IT support systems and processes needed to run the business,” he added.
Peter McKay
Chief Executive Officer Desktone
Under the covers, the Desktone DaaS provides each user a virtual desktop (customers provide their Windows 7 license key) that is accessible from any device, anywhere. The DaaS is can be configurable with OS, RAM, CPU, disk space, etc. to meet end users’ performance requirements. Desktone Cloud implementation, virtual desktops can be up and running in days.
IT admins can manage Desktone’s virtual desktops via one single, web-based UI. “Desktops in the Desktone Cloud look and act as part of the corporate IT environment, even though they are running at a secure remote data center,” according to Desktone supporting documents. “This is because the desktops are connected to the corporate IT environment through a private network connection, and access to the desktops is based upon the existing Active Directory.” The approach means that it is easy to add, remove or modify desktops as needed, from any location with a browser.
To promote mobility, end users can access the Desktone Cloud from an iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and Android-based tablets and smartphones. They can also use thin clients or extend the life of their current PCs for cloud access. Desktone’s mobile client makes this end user access seamless, the company added.
Last fall, Desktone announced it would be working with VMware on a number of key virtual desktop initiatives to extend Desktone for end users and service providers. The roadmap will bring together core technologies from the two firms, including:
- Desktone DaaS Platform: To optimize its multi-tenancy, grid architecture, role separation, and cloud economics.
- VMware View 5 with PCoIP display protocol: To enable service providers to enhance Desktone DaaS solutions by providing an end-user experience that is comparable to that available with a physical PC.
- VMware vSphere 5 and cloud infrastructure suite: To enables service providers to add security, reliability, high availability and other features to cloud-hosted desktops.
- VMware vCloud: To provide service providers common orchestration and automation by integrating the Desktone Platform directly with a hypervisor.
Desktone’s Mckay sees three top use cases driving DaaS desktop in the cloud solutions in 2012, including migration to Windows 7 (driving by Microsoft’s dropping of support for Windows XP), expanding mobile access and ever tighter IT budgets (where desktop management can consume up to 10% of total IT budgets).
