The Age of the Virtual Desktop: Are We There Yet?

Written by Dan Kobialka 1
March 24, 2015

A new survey shows the rising demand for bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs and mobility is driving virtual desktop adoption in many organizations. Here's what else the survey revealed.

Could the age of the virtual desktop finally have arrived? Rising demand for virtual desktops could create new opportunities for managed service providers (MSPs) over the next few years, according to a new survey from managed service provider Evolve IP.

Nearly 37 percent of organizations said they have implemented or tested some level of virtual desktops, while almost 33 percent noted that they plan on doing so in the next three years, according to the study, 2015 Evolve IP State Of The Desktop.

The survey also showed that nearly 98 percent of virtual desktop users are “very pleased” with the technology.

Other survey results included:

Nearly 65 percent of executives cited mobility as the top benefit provided by virtual desktops. And almost 64 percent of IT pros noted that time savings and efficiency were the top benefits of this service.
60 percent of respondents who currently leverage virtual desktops said staff members have used virtual desktops to work remotely during outages or severe weather conditions.
Nearly 54 percent of all respondents said they perform on-site/hands-on desktop management, while 22 percent said they are using remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools.
43 percent of IT professionals and 28 percent of executives said they plan to implement virtual desktops in the next three years.
Executives appear uninformed about desktop technologies. Thirty-nine percent of executives said they were unaware of the term “desktop-as-a-service” (DaaS), and nearly 36 percent had not heard of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and almost 24 percent did not know about RMM.

“We are seeing serious interest in deploying virtual desktops not only with early adopters, but with well-established more conservative organizations,” Evolve IP Chief Sales Officer Tim Allen said in a prepared statement. “We expect adoption to increase as executives gain better understanding of the financial and operational costs associated with refreshing their desktops and as they learn about how these technologies will improve their organization’s productivity and efficiency.”

The survey was conducted in January and included responses from 1,031 IT pros and executives.

Full survey results are available for download here.

What are your thoughts on the new Evolve IP survey? Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at dan.kobialka@penton.com.