Putting People First with Microsoft Desktop Virtualization

Good morning/evening from Amsterdam! We’re at TechEd Europe 2012 this week, continuing our discussions on how to enable more flexible workstyles for your employees and how enterprises are shaping the future of desktop virtualization.

In April, Gartner published a report titled “Desktop Virtualization: Building a People-Centric Infrastructure.” In this report, Gartner discusses how desktop virtualization should not be a “one-size-fits-all” solution, and we couldn’t agree more. Devices – and IT departments – should support the reality that everyone has their own tastes and preferences when it comes to what applications they regularly use, where they use them, and how they customize their applications to make them more personal.

And to that point, we’re excited to announce the availability of the second beta of User Experience Virtualization (UE-V). This latest beta of UE-V will have new functionality, including roaming system settings between Windows 7 and Windows 8, support for additional operating system settings including Start menu, Taskbar and folders options; group policy support to ensure agent configuration consistency, and the roaming and sync of settings between Internet Explorer 8, 9 and 10. We’re excited about these additions to UE-V as they further enable people to change their device and keep their experience.

With Microsoft Desktop Virtualization, we aim to deliver virtualization through a more comprehensive platform – allowing people to use virtually any application anywhere and access Windows everywhere – while simplifying compliance and management through a centralized and unified infrastructure. Microsoft provides a one-stop shop where customers can design the right solution for their business from the full spectrum of desktop virtualization products we offer.

When talking with customers, we often discuss the technology and business benefits desktop virtualization brings to an organization. But consumerization is changing the way we think about applying this technology. This change is fundamentally driven by how people want to interact and get their work done.

Based on this, we’ve shifted the conversation to user behaviors and how desktop virtualization can help them work the way people want. And we shared with customers the various user scenarios that could benefit from desktop virtualization and the optimal solutions for each of these scenarios. Some examples include:

• Offline use of a work laptop and tablet. It doesn’t matter if you are traveling to your next business meeting, going home to work on your family computer or sailing the seven seas, you still need access to your data, applications and settings. UE-V, Folder Redirection, Offline Files and App-V make this happen by providing a consistent Windows experience.
• Online use with devices at home, work, in the car or at the beach. Maybe you’re just checking your e-mail, browsing the Internet or making a feeble attempt at a summer vacation, using Remote App or Microsoft VDI (session based) can get access to server hosted applications on any Windows device; and with support from UE-V and App-V we make sure your experience is the same no matter where you are.
• Online use of a device in the office or at the manufacturing plant halfway across the world. Need to access key databases and systems no matter what work facility you are at? Microsoft VDI (VM based) provides access to personalized server hosted desktops on any Windows device; and with support from App-V, UE-V, and Folder Redirection connects you with the key business data you need, regardless of your location.
• Access to sensitive information from a personal device. Whether you are a full-time employee or contractor, making sure that business and regulatory compliance isn’t an issue is easy with Remote App or Microsoft VDI, which lock down the applications or desktop in the data center.
• Ability to run vital legacy applications. Is your organization migrating from Windows XP to Windows 7? Do you find yourself needing to reference a report from 2006, yet the line of business application you’re trying to access doesn’t play nicely with your current operating system? By using MED-V, you can still run the incompatible XP applications on Windows 7 for a fast, seamless experience.

There are dozens of other scenarios to consider, but at the core, it’s really thinking about virtualization solutions in a different way – by putting people first and giving them access to the applications, data and personalized experience they desire, no matter where they are or which device they are using.

Microsoft Desktop Virtualization is fully compatible with Windows 8, so don’t hesitate to give these solutions a try as part of your Windows 8 Release Preview scenarios. And for customers currently migrating to Windows 7, there is no need to change your plans, as Microsoft Desktop Virtualization works with Windows 7 as well. For more information, check out the Microsoft Desktop Virtualization site and the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) site.