Tag: Desktop as a Service

NComputing Releases Desktop as a Service Targeted To SMBs

Thin client leader NComputing recently announced that So-net Corporation, a member of the Sony Corporation, became the first service provider to deploy its newly released desktop as a service solution. NComputing’s desktop as a service solution enables organizations to deliver a unified environment for computing in conjunction with simplified provisioning, enhanced control of end user experiences and streamlined achievement of compliance regulations. Because NComputing’s Desktop as a Service solution leverages its vSpace virtualization platform, the solution is targeted towards SMBs that are interested in a non-VMware or Citrix-based virtualization platform such as vSpace to serve their virtualization needs. Moreover, NComputing’s Desktop as a Service solution can be integrated with its recently released workspace solution, oneSpace, to serve the needs of mobile customers in addition to desktop environments.

vSpace’s integration into NComputing’s Desktop as a Service offering is illustrated below:

Architected using a server based computing model, NComputing’s Desktop as a Service infrastructure delivers one OS to multiple client terminals whether they be laptops, mobile devices or thin clients. Designed specifically for organizations seeking a low cost solution with minimal complexity with respect to the heterogeneity of the computing experience of end users, the solution allows for the backend management of its Desktop as a Service offering by means of the vSpace management center. Service providers have the option of rebranding the solution or opting for a co-branding deployment as befits the needs of each customer.

NComputing’s decision to target SMBs for its Desktop as a Service solution represents a highly astute strategy to consolidate its positioning within the largely untapped SMB market that has been overshadowed by the battle for enterprise cloud market share waged by giants such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Compute Engine. As noted by NComputing’s VP of Global Marketing, Dave Burton, in a phone interview with Cloud Computing Today, the market for NComputing’s DaaS opportunity constitutes a $600M market in a fragmented SMB space that contains no clearly defined market leader as of yet. While NComputing stands poised to carve out a leadership space in the larger market for cloud products and services for SMBs, the larger point worth noting is that the SMB space represents a potentially lucrative market for cloud products and services both in and of itself, and as part of a larger strategy that carries with it the possibility of an on-ramp to market share within enterprise cloud computing as well.

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AWS Cuts Prices For 42nd Time, Announces VPC Peering Capability And General Availability Of Amazon Workspaces

A day after Google announced price cuts and enhancements to its cloud computing products, Amazon Web Services responded with price cuts of its own at its AWS Summit in San Francisco. Price cuts for Amazon Web Services are nothing new, and the company took care to note as such by pointing out that the April 1, 2014 price reductions represent the 42nd time the Seattle tech behemoth has slashed prices since its 2006 inception. Amazon EC2 pricing cuts ranged from 10-40% for Linux/Unix virtual machines and 7-35% for Windows-based machines. Similarly, AWS announced deep price cuts on its reserved instances offering on the order of 10-40%. Prices for Amazon S3 were reduced by 51% on average, with a hefty discount of 65% for the 0-1 TB range. Meanwhile, Amazon RDS experienced a price cut of 28% on average. AWS also announced the general availability of Amazon Workspaces, a fully managed desktop as a service offering that allows customers to configure and deliver desktop environments for their employees from a centrally hosted location on the AWS cloud. Amazon Workspaces supports the synchronized, bundled delivery of designated software applications to end users on multiple devices. In addition, AWS elaborated on new functionality in the form of “peering connections” between virtual private clouds (VPC) in the same AWS Region that supports use cases such as separate virtual private clouds for different business units within a large organization. As an example of one such use case, VPC peering connections allow EC2 instances from a VPC for the Finance department to access data in a VPC dedicated to Operations, but not necessarily vice versa, depending on the business rules established by the customer for “peering” or data sharing. Finally, AWS took note of its recent achievement of Department of Defense (DoD) provisional authorization, which certifies it as compliant with DOD security protocols over and beyond those achieved by the FedRAMP certification which AWS has already earned. Overall, today’s announcements from the AWS Summit failed to match the depth and variety of cloud-specific product enhancements revealed by Google, but they confirmed Amazon’s enduring ability to cut prices and innovate as well as its growing credibility amongst U.S. government customers.