Around 30pc of Irish companies plan to deploy desktop virtualisation, suggests a survey carried out on behalf of Data Solutions. Some 613 Irish CIOs, IT directors and IT managers were polled.
Of those interested in desktop virtualisation, 63pc said they will be implementing a project in 2011. Only 15pc of all those surveyed did not have a specific desktop virtualisation project in mind. Those surveyed also see migration to Windows 7 as a key driving factor for desktop virtualisation adoption in 2011.
In the UK, a similar study found that in 2009, only 35pc of UK businesses surveyed were planning to or had already deployed a desktop virtualisation project compared to 82pc by the end of 2010.
“We expect to see a similar trend here in Ireland to what is currently happening in the UK,” explained Michael O’Hara, managing director, Data Solutions.
“Indeed, we were recently awarded best growth partner for desktop virtualisation by Citrix, as we had the largest percentage increase in product revenue for this solution between Ireland, the UK and South Africa. This clearly demonstrates the strong growth in demand for desktop virtualisation in Ireland, as companies continue to see the benefits of enabling employees to work in any location and on any device.”
Tangible business benefits
Niall Gilmore, country manager, Ireland, Citrix, said Irish companies of all sizes are now looking at desktop virtualisation.
“Citrix’s ongoing relationship with Microsoft ensures that we can rapidly provide those organisations with solutions to offer tangible business benefits, helping customers reduce cost and dramatically improve business agility.
“Furthermore, the growth in numbers of personal devices being brought into organisations is directly driving interest in desktop virtualisation.
“Smartphones and tablets are putting a lot of extra pressure on the IT departments to manage these devices, and this in turn is driving demand for the technology, to help reduce this burden.”
