VMware Virtual Desktops Deliver a Full PC Experience Both Online and Offline at Lower Costs, Higher Security and With Improved Manageability
VMware demonstrates advances in desktop virtualization technologies at VMworld Europe
Cannes, FRANCE, February 26, 2008 — VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the datacenter, today demonstrated the future of desktop computing to more than 4,500 attendees at VMworld Europe.
Across the globe customers who have standardized on VMware for server virtualization are now poised to bring the benefits of virtualization to the desktop. By extending the VMware platform to the desktop, IT administrators can deploy virtual machines on every PC and deliver a complete desktop experience that is easy to manage, fast to deploy, less costly to maintain, always-current and radically more secure.
Virtual machines deployed on desktops are protected from disaster, disruption, attack, or theft and are therefore the best environments in which to run applications and store user files and data. In addition, VMware virtual desktops are always-current because thousands of virtual machines can be updated instantly from the datacenter without touching a single desktop. Workforces running VMware virtual desktops get a full PC experience both online and offline, allowing them to work from anywhere and be more productive.
“Virtualization is fundamentally changing the desktop and providing a better way to manage the desktop experience,” said Jeff Jennings, vice president of desktop products and solutions at VMware. “VMware virtual desktops enable a one-to-many deployment model, making it easy to update to a new version of an application, rollout entirely new applications, or deploy the most current operating system. VMware is also making it possible for workers to take their virtual desktops with them as they travel or work from home.”
Traditional distributed desktop computing—where everyone in a company has her or his own PC or laptop loaded with applications and data—is costly to own, complex and time-consuming to manage, and can be impossible to secure. By virtualizing desktops—that is, deploying them in a virtual machine that’s managed from within the datacenter where they are easier and more cost-effective to manage—IT staff can quickly provision new desktops to employees, wherever they are, flexibly and efficiently.
Analyst firm IDC predicts the total market for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure products and services will exceed $1 billion by 2011. (1)
In keynote presentations at VMworld Europe today, VMware will showcase three advances in desktop virtualization that allow organizations to scale virtual desktop deployments to thousands of users at once and let task workers access desktops and applications both online and offline:
- Scalable Virtual Image technology - allows organizations to quickly deploy, update, and publish desktop images to thousands of virtual machines, accomplishing many tasks in just minutes that previously took hours with physical PCs. Scalable Virtual Image technology delivers lower operational costs through simple and scalable desktop image management and reduces storage requirements up to 90 percent for virtual desktop infrastructure environments.
- Offline Virtual Desktop Infrastructure - enables end users to “check out” personalized virtual desktops running on VMware virtual desktop infrastructure to a notebook computer for use offline and then “check back in” to the same desktop running in their virtual desktop infrastructure environment. The technology previews how a single virtual desktop infrastructure platform may be able to support all enterprise PCs in the future.
- Application Virtualization Technology (formerly Thinstall) - VMware will also unveil the beta version of its application virtualization product, code-named “Project North Star,” expected to be generally available later this year. Based on the company’s recent Thinstall acquisition, VMware application virtualization simplifies application deployment and management by reducing the time and effort to test, package, install, and update applications in physical and virtual desktop environments.
“VMware is once again transforming computing and this time it’s aimed at the desktop” said Chris Tunnecliff, Group Infrastructure Architect at Aspen Insurance. “Through innovations like those announced today, VMware is showing how a virtual desktop matches a physical desktop in terms of user experience but far exceed physical desktops when it comes to manageability and security. With VMware desktop virtualization, we are delivering complex, resource-hungry applications to users in ways simply not possible on physical systems. In addition, we are able to dynamically allocate resources to individual users on demand in an environment that is extremely safe and reliable.”
About VMware
VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop to the data center. Customers of all sizes rely on VMware to reduce capital and operating expenses, ensure business continuity, strengthen security and go green. With 2007 revenues of $1.3 billion, more than 100,000 customers and more than 10,000 partners, VMware is one of the fastest growing public software companies. VMware is headquartered in Palo Alto, California and on the web at www.vmware.com.
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Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this press release which are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements and are subject to the safe harbor provisions created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate, but are not limited, to rate and size of end user adoption and deployment of desktop virtualization software and the release of VMware's desktop virtualization products. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain risk factors, including but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions; (ii) delays or reductions in consumer or information technology spending; (iii) competitive factors, including but not limited to pricing pressures, industry consolidation, entry of new competitors into the virtualization market, and new product and marketing initiatives by our competitors; (iv) the ability to develop, and to transition to, new products, the uncertainty of customer acceptance of emerging technology, and rapid technological and market change; (v) changes to product development timelines; (v) the ability to protect our proprietary technology; and (vii) our ability to attract and retain highly qualified employees. These forward looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to uncertainties and changes in condition, significance, value and effect as well as other risks detailed in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2007, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. VMware disclaims any obligation to update any such forward-looking statements after the date of this release.
(1) IDC “Worldwide Virtual Client Computing 2007-2011 Forecast: The Virtualization Revolution: Rethinking Client Computing”, April 2007, Doc # 206003