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Desktop Virtualization: Best Bet for a Dwindling IT Budget? Where are the Actual Savings?
By Paul Ghostine
General Manager of Quest Software’s Desktop Virtualization Group
White Paper
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© Copyright Quest® Software, Inc. 2009. All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Hardware Savings.......................................................................................................................................... 5
Power Consumption Savings ......................................................................................................................... 7
Desktop Downtime Savings .......................................................................................................................... 8
Expenses ..................................................................................................................................................... 10
Desktop Hardware Expense .................................................................................................................... 10
Additional Server Expense ....................................................................................................................... 10
Power Consumption Expense .................................................................................................................. 10
Desktop Downtime Expense .................................................................................................................... 11
Virtualization Software Expense ............................................................................................................. 11
Microsoft VECD Expense ......................................................................................................................... 11
Storage Expense ...................................................................................................................................... 11
Implementation Expense ......................................................................................................................... 12
Additional Benefits ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Improved Security ................................................................................................................................... 12
Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity ................................................................................................... 13
Telework – Work from Home Initiatives ................................................................................................. 14
Further Savings ....................................................................................................................................... 14
About the Author .................................................................................................................................... 15
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Executive Summary No doubt you’ve at least heard the hype about Desktop Virtualization/Virtual Desktop Infrastructure
(VDI). Some of you a may be somewhat
skeptical. Vendors and analysts typically over
inflate cost savings in order to boost the
viability of what they are selling. The
downturn in the economy and resulting
tightening of corporate budgets has
companies taking a hard look at budgets and
asking, “Is this really what we should be
spending our limited funds on?” You will
struggle to find a technology that offers more
avenues for savings than Desktop
Virtualization. In fact, leading analyst firms
including Gartner and Forrester agree about the market opportunity and savings of VDI.
It’s likely that you have embarked on a server virtualization project, which is a wonderful way to
decrease server spend and better utilize computing resources in the datacenter. BUT….Desktop
Virtualization offers equally significant savings in the areas of hardware, power consumption, desktop
downtime, and a plethora of additional
benefits in the areas of security, disaster
recovery/ business continuity, and remote,
work-from-home (Telework) opportunities.
The goal of this paper is to clearly outline
where the major savings and expenses are
for a VDI deployment, while quantifying in
easy-to-understand terms. If you are
interested in running your own numbers, you
are invited to input your specific values into our Quest VDI ROI Calculator (http://vworkspace.com/ROI-
analysis.aspx) and build a report unique to your organization with figures you are comfortable with.
“Virtualization on the client … is going to be much
bigger (than Server Virtualization). On the PC, it is
about isolation and creating a managed
environment that the user can’t touch. This will
help change the paradigm of desktop computer
management in organizations.”
– Gartner, Inc.
“Virtualization Will Drive Major Change in IT Infrastructure and
Operations in the Next Three Years, According to Gartner,” Press
Release, May 8, 2007
“After speaking to organizations looking at
desktop and application virtualization, we
know that client virtualization is not just
an emerging trend, it's the future of the
corporate PC.” – Forrester Research
“Demystifying Client Virtualization,” Natalie Lambert with
Robert Whiteley and Rachel Batiancila, Apr. 2008
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For simplification purposes, we’ll use examples throughout this paper for 1,000 desktops. That should
make it easy to multiply or divide by “X” to get a more accurate number specific to your organization’s
needs. All values used throughout the paper are based on IDC and Alinean research and can be verified
within the ROI Analysis tool found at this address http://vworkspace.com/ROI-analysis.aspx.
Comparison of Desktop Management Today & VDI Tomorrow per 1,000 Desktops
Expense Today Expenses with VDI Year 1
Expenses with VDI Year 2
Desktop Hardware $666,000* $60,000 $60,000
Power Consumption $114,309 $29,395 $29,395
Desktop Downtime $156,000 $15,600 $15,600
Additional Servers to run VDI $0 $273,000 $40,950
Hypervisor & Management & Broker to run VDI $0 $150,000 $30,000
Microsoft Vista Enterprise Consolidated Desktop (VECD) to run VDI $0 $24,000 $24,000
Storage to run VDI $0 $100,000 $21,000
Implementation to get VDI running $0 $100,000 $0
Cumulative Annual $936,309 $751,995 $220,945
Optional Office Space Savings (Telework) $2,400,000
Total Annual $3,336,309 *Used $2000 as desktop acquisition cost (Average between $1,500 and $2,500)
Savings with VDI Year 1 $184,314
Optional VDI Savings with office space reduction Year 1 $2,584,314
Savings with VDI Year 2 $715,364
Optional VDI Savings with office space reduction Year 2 $3,115,364
While first year savings are diminished by the upfront cost to get a desktop virtualization project underway ($184,314). Year two, three, and so on savings are considerable ($715,364) per year. The remainder of the paper shows how we arrived at the above numbers.
Hardware Savings In speaking with multiple organizations (many of which are now customers) it became very apparent
that there is a huge expense related to the purchasing and set-up of desktop systems. When you
consider the actual machine (PC), monitor, docking station (if laptop), and the time it takes to image the
machine, costs per desktop hover in the $1,500 to $2,500 range.
Let’s assume a simple scenario. ABC Company has 1,000 desktops they are interested in virtualizing so
that they may gain better management and control. They have a three-year refresh cycle for their
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desktops. Said another way, in any given year 33% (1/3) of the desktops need to be replaced. Assuming
no growth in the number of desktops needed per year, we get an annual spend per 1,000 desktops
ranging from $499,500 to $832,500 (333 x $1,500 = $499,500; 333 x $2,500 = $832,500). Keep in mind
this is an annual spend, meaning every year you pay this amount, and if your organization grows, as we
would expect any successful organization to do, that spend only rises.
Expense Model for 1,000 Desktops over a 5 year period Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
# of desktops 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
% desktops a year that need to be replaced 33%* 33% 33% 33% 33%
# desktops a year that need to be replaced** 333 333 333 333 333
Low-end cost of desktop replacement*** $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500
Low-end Total $499,500 $499,500 $499,500 $499,500 $499,500 High-end cost of desktop replacement*** $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500
High-End Total $832,500 $832,500 $832,500 $832,500 $832,500
Cumulative 5 year spend range $2,497,500 - $4,162,500 *Assumes a 3 year refresh cycle on desktops **Assume no new desktops each year (no new hires) ***Actual machine (PC), monitor, docking station (if laptop), and the time it takes to image the machine
With a desktop virtualization project, you can get two to three more years out of existing desktops by
effectively repurposing them to act as thin clients. With no apps and little processing actually done on
the desktop, the desktop becomes easier to maintain. By repurposing desktops, we extend the refresh
cycle from three years to five to six years. Using our example above and now a new five year refresh
cycle versus a three year one, we reduce costs significantly. Desktops won’t have to be purchased for
two years, saving ABC Company over a million dollars. In year three, ABC Company will need to begin
purchasing desktops again but the % per 1,000 drops to 20% (from 33%) because we now get five years
of use from the repurposed desktops.
Expense Model for 1,000 Repurposed Desktops for Virtualization over a 5 year period Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
# of desktops 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
% desktops a year that need to be replaced 0% 0% 20%* 20% 20%
# desktops a year that need to be replaced** 0 0 200 200 200
Low-end cost of desktop replacement*** $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 $1,500
Low-end Total $0 $0 $300,000 $300,000 $300,000 High-end cost of desktop replacement*** $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500
High-End Total $0 $0 $500,000 $500,000 $500,000
Cumulative 5 year spend range $900,000 - $1, 500,000 *Assumes a 5 year refresh cycle on desktops **Assume no new desktops each year (no new hires) ***Actual machine (PC), monitor, docking station (if laptop), and the time it takes to image the machine
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Instead of buying fully functioning and expensive desktops, we can begin replacing old or repurposed
desktops (20% annually – after the extra two years you get by repurposing existing desktops) with much
cheaper thin clients or minimal workstations – the savings are again significant.
For example purposes, we’ll use $300 per thin client device: 1,000 (desktops) x 20% (desktops in need of
replacement) = 200. 200 x $300 = $60,000 per year. Before a Desktop Virtualization project, ABC was
spending $500,000 to $832,000 per 1,000 desktops annually. After the Desktop Virtualization project,
they saved two years of desktop acquisition costs = $1M-$1.7M and in year three began replacing
repurposed desktops with thin clients for an annual spend of $60,000 (a savings of over 90% compared
to before the desktop virtualization project).
Expense Model for 1,000 Thin Client Desktops for Virtualization over a 5 year period Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
# of desktops 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000 1,000
% desktops a year that need to be replaced 0% 0% 20%* 20% 20%
# desktops a year that need to be replaced** 0 0 200 200 200
Cost of desktop replacement with Thin Client $300 $300 $300 $300 $300
Low-end Total $0 $0 $60,000 $60,000 $60,000
Cumulative 5 year spend $180,000 *Assumes a 5 year refresh cycle on desktops **Assume no new desktops each year (no new hires)
Before someone cries foul, there is another hardware item to consider – servers to house the virtual
desktops. We can have 24 virtual desktops per server†. Keeping with our 1,000 desktop example, we
would need 1,000/24 = 42 servers that we didn’t have before. At an average cost of $6,500 per server,
we have an upfront server cost of $273,000 per 1,000 desktops. But as demonstrated above, ABC saved
$500,000 to $832,000 per 1,000 desktops per year, providing plenty to cover the upfront server costs,
and it’s not like ABC needs to keep purchasing servers every year. Obviously second year savings and so
on will be more significant. Outside of annual maintenance costs on those new servers for desktop
virtualization (roughly $40K/year); huge hardware cost savings are to be had with a Desktop
Virtualization project.
† Servers are dual CPU dual core (4 cores) x 6 VMs per core = 24
Power Consumption Savings Saving on power consumption (both operating power and cooling power) is another avenue for savings
when moving forward with a desktop virtualization project. The chart below outlines power cost for
1,000 desktops before a virtualization project, and using repurposed desktops or using thin clients in a
virtualization project. It is important to keep in mind that when we move to a desktop virtualization
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project, while we are decreasing the power consumption via repurposed desktops or thin clients, we are
also increasing the power used by servers housing the virtual desktops.
Physical PC VDI
Cost Components
Current Desktop
Repurposed Desktop
Thin Client
Servers for Virtualization
Watts/hr* 450 280 25 900
Hours per day 10 10 10 24
Days in yr 260 260 260 260
watt-hours per year 1170000 728000 65000 5616000
Kilowatt-hours per year 1170 728 65 5616
Cost per kWh 0.0977** 0.0977 0.0977 0.0977
Cost per desktop/server $114.31 $71.13 $6.35 $548.68
# of desktops/servers 1,000 1,000 1,000 42
Total Annual Cost $114,309.00 $71,125.60 $6,350.50 $23,044.69 The above chart assumes 1,000 Typical/repurposed desktops and thin clients. Chart also assumes 260 business days/year and need for 42 servers to cover 1,000 virtual desktops
As seen in the chart above, use of thin clients greatly reduces the power expense to the tune of
$107,958 per 1,000 desktops per year – a 94% savings over current power consumption for same
number of physical desktops.
With a combined power expense of thin clients and servers (for desktop virtualization project), we have
a total annual power expense for 1,000 desktops of $29,395.19. Before a desktop virtualization project,
the annual power expense for 1,000 desktops was $114,309. A Desktop Virtualization project represents
a 74% savings in power consumption/expense.
Desktop Downtime Savings Usually when an employee has a problem with a computer, they call the help desk. This is fairly standard
behavior for most employees. Usually someone from the help desk stops by within an hour or so. But
what if there is no help desk staff located in a particular office? What about a sales person, working
from a home office? What about contracted overseas labor? Typically, if a problem cannot be solved
over the phone, employees must ship their PC to a help desk technician in order to get it fixed.
It’s amazing how dependant employees have become to their work PCs. The other day we had a power
outage at my office for a couple hours and it was astounding how many people felt they could not do
their jobs because they could not use their PCs. No emails, no applications, no internet! From a desktop
virtualization perspective, there is nothing that can be done about power outages, but desktop PCs have
an average of four to six hours of downtime a year. There are various reasons for this downtime – OS
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crashes, hard drive crashes, corrupt files, application upgrade issues, outdated drivers, and so on. In
keeping consistent with our 1,000 desktop models from above, the chart below outlines the average
downtime and costs per 1,000 desktops:
Downtime per 1,000 Desktops per Year
Desktops 1,000
Downtime/Desktop 4 hours
Total # of downtime hours per 1,000 desktops 4,000 hours
Downtime Hours per 1,000 Desktops by Employee Type Task Workers (30%) (4,000 x 30%) 1,200
Knowledge Workers (60%) (4,000 x 60%) 2,400
Power Workers (10%) (4,000 x 10%) 400
Labor cost per 1,000 desktop by Employee Type
Task Workers $25/hour x 1,200 $30,000
Knowledge Workers $40/hour x 2,400 $96,000
Power Workers $50/hour x 400 $20,000
Total Labor Cost for 1,000 Desktop Downtime $156,000
Keep in mind, four hours of employee downtime per PC per year is a conservative estimate. Other
models use six hours or more per desktop, but only you will know specific downtime hours for your
organization. Something else to think about is that the model only considers 1,000 desktops. If, for
example you had 3,000 desktops, your downtime labor costs for idle employees would be $468,000 per
year.
Virtualized desktops have much less downtime – one can stand-up a new virtual desktop in ten minutes
or less. If the operating system is causing problems, it can be fixed in a central location versus physically
visiting each machine and fixing problem one machine at a time. The same can be said for application
patches and upgrades; fix in a central location and eliminate the need to make desktop visits. Hard drive
failures are non-existent because the virtual desktop hard drive is a storage area network (SAN). Sure
SANs can have problems, but it’s a much smaller chance and the built-in redundancy makes an outright
failure practically nil. Remember, we’re talking about 1,000 desktops vs. roughly 42 servers (to house
the virtual desktops). If Desktop Virtualization can reduce the downtime by 90%, your organization saves
$140,000 annually per 1,000 desktops. If that estimate seems too high, reducing downtime by merely
50% saves the organization nearly $80,000 annually per 1,000 desktops.
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Expenses No paper explaining the benefits and savings of desktop virtualization would be worth a dime without a
discussion and look at the expenses related to embarking on a project. I have identified multiple
expense considerations below:
Expenses of VDI Project – 1000 Desktops (Initial Purchase Year Only)
Expense Item Cost/Desktop Total Desktop Hardware $300/per thin client device $60,000
Additional Servers for VDI $6,500/server (42 needed) $273,000
Power Consumption/Desktop $6.35/desktop/yr $6,350
Power Consumption/Servers for VDI $548.68/server/yr $23,045
Desktop Downtime See section above $15,600
Virtualization Software (Hypervisor + Management + Broker)
Average $150/user $150,000
Microsoft Vista Enterprise Consolidated Desktop (VECD) to run VDI
$23/user - Assumes Microsoft
“Software Assurance” $23,000
Storage for VDI 10GB/desktop at $10/GB $100,000
Implementation Costs Many variables to consider $100,000
Totals $751,995
Desktop Hardware Expense In the above chart, we show an annual expense of $60,000 per 1000 desktops. This is the cost of
replacing 20% of physical desktops with thin clients at $300 per device. As discussed in the section
above Hardware Savings, one can save more by prolonging the purchase of thin clients and using
existing desktops by repurposing them to behave like thin clients. Another point worth mentioning from
the Hardware Savings section above is that when switching to use of thin clients, we extend the useful
life of the hardware to five-six years versus the three year life expectancy of physical desktops.
Additional Server Expense As outlined above and in the Hardware Savings section earlier, we assume six virtual desktops per core.
Essentially, we can get 24 virtual desktops per dual CPU dual core server. We need 42 servers to cover
our 1000 virtual desktop scenario. At a cost of $6,500 per server, we get an expense of $273,000. As the
most expensive part of a desktop virtualization project, it’s important to keep in mind that this expense
is an upfront cost and will only require annual maintenance after year one. This means that the savings
in years two, three, four and so on improve because we don’t have to keep purchasing servers every
year (other than to onboard more users).
Power Consumption Expense Thin clients use about 5-10% of the power used to run physical desktops (see chart above in Power
Consumption Savings section). The annual expense to power a thin client is $6.35 per year. Keeping
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consistent for our 1000 desktop scenario, the annual power consumption expense for virtual desktops
per year is $6,350. We also need to consider the added expense of powering and cooling all the new
servers we have to run the virtual desktops. It costs about $548.68 to power a single server for a year
(again see chart above in Power Consumption Savings section for details). By multiplying $548.68 by the
number of new servers needed, 42, and we have an annual power consumption expense for servers at
$23,045.
Desktop Downtime Expense Here we explore the cost of desktop downtime. OS crashes, hard drive crashes, corrupt files, application
upgrade issues, outdated drivers, and so on can cause desktops to be repaired by your own help desk or
a manufacturer. The result can leave users without a desktop and for the most part an un-productive
user. A desktop virtualization project can decrease downtime by 90%, primarily because problems can
be fixed in a central location aka datacenter. It’s also quick and easy to re-issue a new thin client device
and stand up a new virtual desktop in minutes. Because of these factors, we see desktop downtime per
1000 physical desktop at roughly $156,000 per year. A 90% reduction gives us a $15,600 expense related
to desktop downtime.
Virtualization Software Expense Key to any desktop virtualization project is the software to run it all. One needs a hypervisor/platform to
run on, some administration console to interface and manage the platform, and finally a broker to
manage connections to virtual desktops. There are a host of options with varying price structures here
and without writing a separate paper to explain them all, we’ll use an average of $150 per user to cover
the virtualization software expense. 1,000 desktops at $150 per user, we get a onetime upfront cost of
$150,000. Support and maintenance will be ongoing expenses (usually around 20% of list price) but the
big bite is over after the initial purchase year.
Microsoft VECD Expense We will assume that an organization will have desktops covered under the Microsoft Software
Assurance (SA) model and therefore there will be an additional charge of $23 per desktop per year to
run Vista or XP on that virtual desktop. The expense for 1,000 desktops is $23,000 per year and is
reoccurring.
Storage Expense Another piece of the desktop virtualization puzzle is storage. We need to ensure that each virtual
desktop has sufficient “hard drive” space per user. If we assume 10GB of space per desktop and 1,000
desktops, we need 10,000 GB of storage. Using $10 as cost of 1GB of storage, we have an expense of
$100,000 for our 1,000 virtual desktops. But again this expense is not an annual expense. It is a one time
upfront cost to setup the virtual desktop environment. Of course, ongoing maintenance in years 2, 3, 4,
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and so on will persist. We use $2.10 per GB as the cost to maintain the storage, which gives us an
expense of $21,000 per year after initial purchase year.
Implementation Expense This area has a multitude of variables which make it nearly impossible to land on an exact number.
Many organizations that have gone through a server virtualization project will be much more savvy and
need less (if any) implementation help. Others that are greener in their adoption of virtualization
technologies may need more help. Regardless, there is an expense whether you use internal or external
resources to accomplish a desktop virtualization project. We will use $100,000 as the implementation
expense, knowing that number may be high or low depending on an organization specific needs and
experience.
Additional Benefits Above we have outlined some major areas of cost savings and expenses. In this section, let’s explore
other benefits that become much harder to quantify but have equally important prominence.
Improved Security Being more secure with corporate data is hard to put a price tag on. By pushing end–user data back to
the data center you gain centralized control over your organization’s data. Sensitive data formerly
residing on vulnerable desktops no longer represents a security risk because that data now resides in a
centralized, easier to manage and secure, data center. It’s much easier to put sophisticated security
measures in place for a few central data centers than thousands, if not tens of thousands, of distributed
end-points or desktops.
You can eliminate the risk and consequence of desktop theft with VDI or Server-based Computing (aka
terminal services). Stealing a thin client device or re-purposed desktop has little value outside of an
organization’s environment and ensures your confidential data remains secure. Remember the machine
doesn’t store data; it’s simply used as the connection mechanism to the corporate data, applications,
and processing power. There is little incentive for potential thieves and little consequence to the
organization, other than cost of thin client or re-purposed desktop. As I outlined above, thin clients are
on average $300 to replace. Organizations can also eliminate the threat of employee data theft via USB
and CD by disabling those functions on the thin client or re-purposed desktop.
Another security area where desktop virtualization has a play is application patches/updates. Many
organizations have little visibility into whether an individual employee has installed the latest operating
system patches, virus updates, and application upgrades/updates. Even with software that automates
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patch management, employees can refuse installation or change setting within patch management
software so as not to affect their PC. With centralized applications and operating systems achieved via a
desktop virtualization project, you ensure all operating system patches, virus updates, and application
upgrades are applied uniform across the virtual desktop landscape – eliminating the fear and
vulnerability that users simply ignore updates.
Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Desktop virtualization allows organizations to build effective disaster recovery strategies that ensure
continuity with little or no interruption when disasters strike. When/if disaster does strike, people can
go to any alternative workplace environment (anyplace with an internet access) and get entrée to
mission critical applications and get back to being productive. For disasters affecting the data center,
automated failover provides high availability for the virtual desktop infrastructure.
The ability to quickly provision or re-provision virtual desktops, with all of the required applications,
ensures that your business will continue. To expedite recovery, the desktop team builds a pristine
image/template of a virtual desktop. If a virtual desktop goes down, the team can redeploy the image in
a matter of minutes, compared to the hours it would take to troubleshoot, re-image and reload a
physical PC. Because the virtual images are hardware-independent, they can run on a wide range of
hardware configurations. Instead of warehousing depreciable assets, corporations can buy replacement
machines – thin clients or full featured PCs – as needed from local retailers and be up and running by
making a few connections. This also applies to quickly and easily On-Off boarding new employees,
outsourced/contracted labor, and ensuring seamless integration of mergers/acquisitions.
The isolation that desktop virtualization provides means better security and availability. With VDI, users
get their own virtualized desktop environments. Thus, one users’ behavior or configuration does not
affect the entire user community. If the user somehow crashes the virtual desktop, all they need to do
is log in, get assigned another one, and can then be productive instantaneously via a new, corporate
sanctioned image.
Desktop virtualization provides a disaster recovery and desktop management solution that spans the
entire computing life cycle, easing provisioning, management and recoverability, and addressing
procurement, inventory and decommissioning issues. Leaps in technology are improving the user
experience and fostering wider acceptance and deployment, see Quest’s Experience Optimized Protocol
(http://vworkspace.com/solutions/vworkspace/eop.aspx) for optimal user experience over both LAN
and WAN deployments.
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Telework – Work from Home Initiatives Many organizations are interested in telework/workforce mobility/work-from-home initiatives.
Regardless of what you may call it, organizations are taking notice of the benefits and see desktop
virtualization as the vehicle. As we outlined above, security measures are in place, disaster recovery and
business continuity is in place and all roads lead to or allow an always-on, connection from anywhere to
the virtual desktop. Working from home has many “Green IT” benefits; less traffic = less car emissions,
less gas consumption, less required office space, and can improve recruitment and retention of
employees.
Let us explore potential real estate savings. Imagine having 1,000 employees work from home. We no
longer need to lease office space for these employees. As a rule of thumb organizations usually need to
lease approximately 100-150 sq/feet per employee. In staying consistent with examples above, we will
be conservative and use 100 sq.ft. per employee. At $2 per square foot per month, it becomes readily
apparent that businesses spend huge sums of money for office space.
Office Space Savings with Desktop Virtualization # of Work-From-Home Employees
Sq. Ft. Needed per Employee
Total Sq.Ft. Needed
Cost per Sq.Ft./month
Monthly Office Space Costs
Annual Office Space Costs
500 100 sq.ft. 50,000 sq.ft $2 $100,000 $1,200,000
1,000 100 sq.ft. 100,000 sq.ft $2 $200,000 $2,400,000
5000 100 sq.ft. 500,000 sq.ft $2 $1,000,000 $12,000,000
You can see from the chart above that an organization can save $2.4 million dollars by having just 1,000
employees work from home via a virtual desktop. It’s no wonder why many call center operations have
and continue to migrate to virtual call centers (people working from home).
Further Savings While we’ve focused on desktop savings in the virtual desktop environment (VDI), Quest vWorkspace
offers you the opportunity to easily extend these savings by deploying your applications even more
efficiently, to a greater scope of your user community. Server-based computing (SBC) is an application
and desktop delivery architecture that can realize significant total cost of ownership savings if
implemented for the right group of users in the right circumstances. In a research report titled “Total
Cost of Ownership Comparison of PCs With Server-Based Computing,” Gartner states:
“The TCO of an SBC deployment used to deliver all applications to users is around 50% lower
than that of an unmanaged desktop deployment, and 11% to 18% lower than that of a locked
and well-managed PC deployment.”
“Direct costs of SBC are between 12% and 27% lower than those of traditional PCs.”
“SBC deployments are particularly attractive when client devices are shared by multiple users –
that is, when the number of concurrent users is lower than the total number of users – even
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compared with that of locked and well-managed desktop PCs.” – Gartner, Inc., “Total Cost of
Ownership Comparison of PCs With Server-Based Computing,” by Federica Troni, Mark A.
Margevicius, Michael A. Silver, August 4, 2008
With the multiple deployment options of Quest vWorkspace (ability to manage VDI, SBC, and physical or
blade PCs from a single console), you can achieve greater user density per application delivery platform
by combining virtual desktops with the more mature architecture of server-based computing. The
desktop computing requirements of your task workers, knowledge workers, power users, and remote
workers are better served when you combine application and desktop delivery across the appropriate
hardware configuration using the optimum delivery platform.
Quest vWorkspace provides you with the options to deploy applications from a virtual desktop, a load-
balanced group of terminal servers, or physical machines. Instead of installing Microsoft Office into your
virtual machine templates, you can deploy the office suite using server-based computing and publish the
seamless window applications into your virtual desktops. For your task workers, publish their
applications or provide them with a highly managed terminal server desktop to achieve around 50%
savings. For your knowledge workers, provide a virtual desktop that provides them with the usability
they expect. vWorkspace provides the deployment options to efficiently provide desktops and
applications across the spectrum of your users computing needs, while providing you with the necessary
desktop life-cycle management and administrative controls to realize the infrastructure savings.
About the Author Paul Ghostine is Vice President and General Manager of the Quest
Software’s Desktop Virtualization Group. A twenty-year industry
veteran, Mr. Ghostine was co-founder and CEO of Provision Networks
prior to its acquisition by Quest in 2007. Previously, Mr. Ghostine was
also co-founder and CEO of Emergent OnLine, a consulting and
systems integration firm, VP of International Sales and Operations with
V-ONE, a pioneer in VPN technologies, and held a variety of senior
management positions with Renex and Sprint, including overall
operational responsibilities for Russia, India, Middle East and Africa at
Sprint International. Mr. Ghostine is a graduate of The George
Washington University with an undergraduate degree in finance, an
MBA in information systems management, and post-graduate studies
in business management.
