Citrix service partners see SME boom in desktop virtualization

Service providers are reaping the rewards of a boom in desktop virtualization adoption amongst smaller businesses, according to Citrix Systems. According to one provider, uptake of desktop services is seeing user revenues more than double every three months.

“We have seen a growth in desktop as a service of more than 400% over the past six months, and we’ve only just started scratching the surface” said Gavin Evans, owner of ITEasy. “Economic uncertainty is affecting small and medium enterprises wanting to update old infrastructure, meaning the financial certainty they need is best provided through per user/per month services.”

Neville James, Channel Director for Australia and New Zealand, Citrix, believes smaller enterprises are taking advantage of reasonable price points and beneficial licensing to implement solutions more traditionally used by large organizations.

“The ability to implement desktops-as-a-service through reliable service providers like ITEasy guarantees customers service availability and quality without the need for costly upfront backend investment”, said James.

Gavin Evans continued, “While some organizations are seeing cost savings, the biggest benefits our customers are citing to us are around mobility alongside security. The technology’s ability to provide compliance, corporate security and probity of data is essential. We feel we’re at the tipping point for desktops-as-a-service in Australia.”

Citrix XenApp has in particular seen an uptake in adoption, and has been a leading reason why Citrix income from desktop services to service providers has more than tripled in the last year. Citrix XenApp is one of a number of desktop delivery models available under a single XenDesktop license, a system Citrix calls FlexCast.

“Through our competitive service provider licensing schemes, utilizing Microsoft’s service provider licensing agreement, we believe that ever-smaller companies will begin to see the benefits of desktops as a service, such as improved mobility, business continuity and desktop performance,” concluded James.