Cloud-Based VDI Market to Reach $11.2 Billion in 2012: Report
By Erin Harrison, Executive Editor, Cloud Computing
While virtual desktops are not a new technology -- until recently they hadn’t been a focal point for enterprises – the server hardware and network equipment involved in VDI were barriers for many organizations. However, today’s higher network speeds and public clouds are allowing virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) vendors to capitalize on this previously underutilized technology.
In fact, more than 50 percent of U.S. enterprises are migrating to virtual desktops or are considering transitioning to VDI in the next 12 months, according to a new research from Visiongain (News - Alert), which projects the VDI market will reach $11.2 billion by the end of 2012.
Virtual desktops have not only reached a point where they can be expedient and cost-effective enough to warrant serious discussion and consideration, Visiongain said, but VDI is also poised to claim significant market share.
“A number of well-funded incumbents and imaginative startups are ushering innovative, cloud-based VDI technology onto the market, promising to irrevocably change the future of enterprise computing and IT,” Visiongain said in a statement.
As more enterprises adopt cloud computing and lowered total cost of ownership, cloud-based VDI implementations are forecast to nearly quadruple in the next five years.
“As the PC model becomes more widely recognized as rigid and cumbersome, companies across all the world’s markets will turn to novel computing solutions in efforts to maximize their operational efficiency and derive competitive advantage from their software investments,” according to the statement.
Visiongain’s “Cloud-Based Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) Market 2012-2017” analyzes cloud-based VDI’s projected prominence over a five-year forecast period.
In a similar report, TechNavio analysts forecast the Global Virtual Desktop Infrastructure market to grow at a CAGR of 14.77 percent over the period 2011-2015. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the growing demand for highly secure remote access interfaces.
The global VDI market has been witnessing growing demand for cloud-based VDI, however, the need for upgrade of enterprise networks could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.
Key vendors dominating this market space include Citrix Systems (News 
- Alert) Inc., Microsoft Corp., and VMware Inc. The other vendors listed in the report are Oracle Corp., Desktone Inc., and RedHat Inc.
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Edited by Rich Steeves
