IBM Brings VMware Horizon Air Desktop as a Service to its Cloud

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The VMware Horizon Air portfolio will be launched globally on the IBM Cloud later this year, the companies announced Tuesday. Customers will be able to use the Horizon Air multi-tenant desktop-as-a-service offering to deliver Windows desktops and applications from the cloud to any desktop, laptop, or mobile device.

In a promotional video accompanying the announcement VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger says Horizon Air on IBM Cloud “will help customers and partners transform the way they deliver windows applications and virtual desktops in the cloud, allowing employees to embrace the business mobility revolution: anywhere; anyplace; anytime.”

In an interview with Talkin’ Cloud last week, Gelsinger noted how partners will have to adapt along with transformative IT. 

The companies say that with VMware Horizon Air’s scalability and flexible monthly subscription pricing it will prove less costly and complex for enterprises than legacy on-premise virtual desktop infrastructure. IDC has predicted the global DaaS market will grow from $376 million in 2014 to over $1.4 billion in 2019, according to a VMware blog post.

Horizon Air is based on Desktone, which VMware acquired in 2013 to serve the demand for mobile enterprise hybrid computing.

 “Hybrid is the new reality for migration to cloud. It’s the fastest-growing segment in the enterprise cloud space. Clients want control and flexibility in making decisions about taking their existing IT infrastructure into the cloud,” said IBM Cloud CTO Jim Comfort in a blog post.

The launch extends a strategic partnership IBM and VMware announced in February at IBM Interconnect to encourage enterprises to move workloads from on-premise software-defined data centers to the cloud. The companies’ general partnership spans 14 years, and includes IBM’s support for VMware NSX, which launched in November to encourage enterprises to transition to hybrid environments including SoftLayer.

VMware Horizon Air on IBM Cloud will be available to all customers of both companies globally, after an initial launch slated for Q3 2016.

Original article appeared here: IBM Brings VMware Horizon Air Desktop as a Service to its Cloud