Managing the ever-complex end user environment against escalating costs and user demands for higher service and productivity technologies can be a challenge.
Desktop virtualisation can help address this challenge and deliver a range of business benefits, including lower maintenance and support costs, improved security, governance and IT asset utilisation.
However, how do you ensure your desktop virtualisation project achieves the above and the savings promised?
What to consider
Transforming the end user environment with desktop virtualisation is not as contained as introducing virtualisation across your servers or data centre. There are many more variables to consider, such as user experience, acceptance of technology and what is the right solution, based on your mix of knowledge, mobile, transactional, branch workers and developers. Ignoring these considerations or adopting the wrong approach can dilute the expected benefits and savings from your desktop virtualisation project.
Return on Investment
IBM globally has implemented virtualisation across more than 100,000 desktops and has helped clients across many industries including Financial Services, Education, Government, Distribution and Retail, to realise the potential benefits and savings from desktop virtualisation.
An IBM client who adopted the IBM Smart Business Desktop Cloud solution across their 600 retail outlets was able to report the following cost savings*:
- Desk-side PC support – 85%
- Desktop Engineering – 75%
- Security and User Administration – in the order of 60-70%
- Power saving – 30%
- Help desk support – 35%
- Software distribution staff saving – 70%
- Security engineering – 60-70%
* Both actual and estimated savings provided by client to IBM. Prior to adopting IBM Smart Business Desktop Cloud solution, this client had an aging IT infrastructure and multiple PCs per employee. This customer story is based on information provided by the customer and illustrates how one organisation uses IBM products. Many factors have contributed to the results and benefits described. IBM does not guarantee comparable results elsewhere.
IBM can also help you to ensure the right approach is taken in planning, designing, deployment and management of your desktop virtualisation project. IBM Smart Business Desktop Cloud encompasses an agnostic approach, strong partner network, proprietary methodologies, tools and processes, to help you define the optimal desktop virtualisation solution that is aligned to your business requirements.
IBM's Smart Business Desktop Cloud solution can help you to reduce the risk associated with a typical desktop virtualisation project, and can help you to realise the maximum return on investment.
Case Studies
See how clients have transformed their end user environment to improve efficiency, availability, flexibility and security.
Auto Teile Unger - reduce operating cost and improve flexibility
Auto Teile Unger is a German based auto parts retailer and distributor that is expanding its operations at a rapid rate - 50 new branches per year across Europe. Its operations span 600 branches, consisting of 12,000 employees. By adopting desktop virtualisation, they were able to reduce operating cost and improve speed and flexibility in establishing new branches.
Pike County Schools - extend the life of aging desktops and deliver quality teaching time
Pike County Schools span 27 campuses with a total population of 10,000 students in the United States. The teaching staff at Pike County recognised the importance of technology in the classroom, but was struggling with an aging fleet of PCs which was impacting the students' learning experience. By working with IBM, they were able to extend the life of their desktops, improve technology access to all students and deliver more quality teaching time.
Huntsville Hospital - changing the delivery of healthcare with improved availability, security and resilency
Huntsville hospital was challenged by its aging and dispersed IT infrastructure. By virtualising and consolidating its data centre from three to one and moving to a centralised computing model, the hospital has been able to provide improved availability, data security and resilency point of care solutions for physicians.
Other Resources
Extending Virtualisation to the End User Environment
Specific considerations for Financial Services organisations to ensure success.
Download the whitepaper (1.45MB)
IDC Whitepaper – IBM Virtualisation Services
Many enterprises have turned to virtualisation as a way of controlling costs and increasing the flexibility of IT. If implemented correctly, the technology can have spectacular results and reduce IT costs and improve flexibility. The results of a recent IDC survey showed that most customers that have deployed virtualisation were able to reduce their hardware costs by 20%. This reduction resulted in a savings of, on average, 23% over the past 12 months due to lower hardware costs, power and cooling savings, and real estate expense savings.
Download the whitepaper (187KB)
IBM Whitepaper – IBM Virtual Infrastructure Access Services (Smart Business Desktop Cloud)
If your organisation is struggling with increasing IT complexity, costs and service concerns, and with accommodating an increasingly mobile workforce, server-based computing (SBC) may help. With IBM Smart Business Desktop Cloud Services, we can help you create a simplified, virtualised environment leveraging centralised IT services.
