Cloud VDI Market Growing 25% Annually

After several false starts, the cloud-based VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) market is set to grow 25 percent annually from 2013 to 2018, according to a new research report from TechNavio. Still, VARs that want to cash in on hosted desktops (aka desktop as a service) have to do their homework. Here’s why.

The early DaaS market focused mainly on centralizing desktops to ease PC software management. But boot storms, network infrastructure issues and server scalability issues limited the DaaS market’s early momentum. More recently, the BYOD (bring your own device) and mobility trends (across smart phones and tablets) has re-energized the DaaS market. Indeed, businesses increasingly want to give users anywhere, anytime access to their desktop experience.

Still, the choices for VARs can be overwhelming. They include but are not limited to:

Another potential option worth watching: VMware acquired Desktone, owner of the DaaS trademark, in 2013. The VAR Guy wonders how soon Desktone’s software will be available in the VMware vCloud Hybrid Service. Hmmm…

Either way, the market now looks real to The VAR Guy. It’s up to VARs to study their options and customer requirements before buying into the hype.