Provider of virtualization and cloud infrastructure VMware has introduced new product offerings and capabilities across its end-user computing product portfolio, aiming to expand its support for the mobile workforce.

The VMware Horizon Suite is designed to keep IT security and control intact while connecting mobile end-users to their data, applications and desktops via any device.

The Horizon View, Horizon Mirage and Horizon Workspace are brought together in the VMware Horizon Suite, creating a single, unified solution. Company officials explained that the solution transforms technology silos into centralized IT services, which are then easier to provision and manage.

Updates to the VMware Horizon Suites include VMware Horizon View 5.3, VMware Horizon Mirage 4.3 and VMware Horizon Workspace.

Company officials said that the VMware Horizon View 5.3 offers the benefit of streamlined management, a reduced total cost of ownership (TCO), and a new route to market for virtual desktops. It comes with workstation class 3D graphics that uses virtual dedicated graphics acceleration (vDGA) enabled by NVIDIA (News - Alert) GRID technology.

The company has also made improvements to its remote desktops delivered via HTML5 capable Web browsers. Company officials said that users can now expect high quality video playback, quick typing response, and higher scalability, with support for up to 250 concurrent connections.  It is expected that this support will be extended to Windows 8.1, Apple iOS 7 and Google (News - Alert) Chromebooks.

The bundling of VMware vCenter Operations Manager for View in Horizon Suite, moreover, is designed to provide advanced VDI performance and operations management, which will allow large-scale virtual desktop production monitoring, advanced problem warning, faster time to resolution and complete infrastructure coverage.

The optional plugin, the new Horizon View Agent Direct-Connect, provides the advantage of secure remote connections to a virtual desktop. These connections are available even when there is no Horizon View connection server, according to company officials.

Additionally, the solution also supports Windows Server 2008 R2 as a desktop operating system in Horizon View for public and private cloud deployments. Company officials said that this will cut down the complexities related to Microsoft (News - Alert) Cirtual Desktop Access (VDA) . Plus, there is the possibility of enabling DaaS service providers to share server hardware between tenants and directly offer Windows licensing choices.

Since the Horizon Mirage is integrated with Horizon View, IT administrators will be able to benefit from flexibility and performance in managing mobile and distributed desktops for different user groups within an organization.

For the VMware Horizon Workspace, meanwhile, company officials said that Sony smartphones are expected to join the list of VMware Ready devices. This will enable IT administrators to improve their enterprise mobile management strategies and better support bring your own device (BYOD) policies. Also joining the list of Android (News - Alert)-based devices that support the dual-persona capability offered by Horizon Workspace are the newly released Xperia Z1 and Xperia Z Ultra smartphones.

The updates to VMware Horizon Suite are scheduled to be available in Q4 2013, while the public beta of VMware Virtual SAN for Horizon View is now available via the VMware website.

“The innovations we are introducing around cost, management and performance of our products make a compelling case to companies searching for a modern approach to supporting their mobile workforces,” said Sanjay Poonen, executive vice president and general manager for end-user computing at VMware.