Desktop virtualization is a strategic investment, solving many of the critical technology hurdles facing K-12 school districts today. It can alleviate problems around strategic direction and resource allocations by improving the end-user PC experience, reducing computer maintenance and support for IT staff, and decreasing the costs of services.
IDC Government Insights has noted accelerating deployments of virtualized desktops in K-12 schools across the globe. Catalysts for this change include significant reductions in overall PC spending and improved system performance among those educational organizations that have switched to virtualized PC desktop solutions. This success is real and measurable.
A confluence of factors has brought desktop virtualization to the forefront of investment decision making. These issues range from the technical (such as aging desktop machines and the need for upgrades to Windows 7 from XP or Vista) to industry forces at work (such as the desire to provision district wide access to applications to physically separated schools and mobile teachers). But the overarching drivers of desktop virtualization are the educational goals that increasingly rely on student and teacher access to desktops and online educational materials.
For these and other reasons, desktop virtualization is a technology whose time has come for cost-conscious educational institutions. It follows on the heels of server virtualization, which has helped school districts realize significant cost savings by reducing the number of servers they maintain and by streamlining the overall physical and energy-related footprint of their datacenters. This success makes desktop virtualization the next logical target for many schools. The goal is ultimately to reduce costs, enhance IT service delivery and the end-user experience, and foster an improved learning environment.
IN THIS WHITE PAPER
This White Paper was written by IDC Government Insights and sponsored by VMware. It explores the potential advantages of using desktop virtualization for PCs rather than taking the traditional approach where every computer has its own operating system, resident applications, memory, processing power, and storage.
The methodology for this document is based on in-depth customer interviews and existing IDC desktop virtualization research. IDC Government Insights talked with IT managers in four school districts that have made a commitment to desktop virtualization using VMware. We asked them what worked, what proved to be a challenge, what they might do differently, and what specific benefits they’ve experienced.
All interviewees said that they achieved significant productivity gains, reductions in costs, and improved services for end users. All are in the midst of expanding their initial commitment to desktop virtualization.
[Download not found]