I've already Virtualised my Servers why would I touch the desktops?

Desktop rollout, management and support never ends does it? Every year some application requirements change. Every few years hardware no longer seems to be able to cope. Today you're struggling to rationalise applications following last year's merger or acquisition. Tomorrow you need to set up an office on the other side of the world.

Desktop management is still one of the most manual, time consuming and costly areas of IT, fraught with security concerns. However, it is now possible to overcome most of these issues through a combination of virtualisation and secure access technologies to deliver highly flexible, personal desktop environments that can be accessed from anywhere. CSC calls this solution Dynamic Desktop.

Stronger Security
It is possible to centralise the management of security, regulatory compliance, business continuity, disaster recovery and information governance which in turn makes it easier to:

• Design and implement data protection polices and practices
• Rollout application updates and patches
• Manage automated backup and recovery of end user desktops and data

Greater Flexibility
As the core data files remain safely in the data centre you can more easily meet the needs of geographically spread users to:

• Deploy desktops rapidly
• Give different desktops and applications to different user groups
• Upgrade the operating system without touching end-user devices

As a result, you can rapidly roll out desktops and applications to new offices, acquired staff, partners and customers, enabling you to respond more effectively to growth and business change. In the near future, organisations may no longer need to provision their staff with devices, but allow access from any device anywhere (including Macs for those staff that prefer them!) by provisioning a set of security protocols instead.

Reduced TCO
Dynamic Desktop is a hosted services, priced on a utility basis - so you can shift costs from CAPEX to OPEX, aligning costs with your use and business cycle. It reduces both the equipment and labor costs required to manage end user desktops:

• Reduce the volume of support calls
• Simplify upgrades and new deployments
• Implement the security policies centrally and avoid remedial work.

How it works
CSC dynamic desktop removes the processor, storage, operating system, applications, and user settings from the end user device and hosts them in the datacentre.

Users can choose from a wide range of access devices: desktop, laptop, netbook, thin client, even a pda or smartphone. When they log in, a personalised virtual desktop instance - complete with operating system, configured applications, and their files and settings - is automatically assembled in the datacentre and served to them.

The access device connects to the datacentre over the network and is directed to the virtual pc via a connection broker. If a user disconnects from their virtual pc, the connection broker manages their reconnection when they log back in, to their virtual pc - just as they left it. This allows your workforce to roam smoothly, changing location or device without affecting productivity.

CSC Australia recently ran a pilot for 50 users across functions and business units. The end user experience was summed up by Sonia Eland, GM Marketing & Communications after a recent trip to Perth "It's great, I didn't even take my laptop. I just logged in to my normal sessions from my iPhone, a hotdesk in the Perth office and the Qantas Lounge. What could be more simpler?"