VMware Horizon 6: What does it mean for your Business?

VMware Horizon 6: What does it mean for you?

Recently, VMware made waves with its announcement of Horizon 6—VMware’s first foray into the virtual desktop application marketplace, along with added provisions for app management. Ever since the announcement, the virtualization community has been buzzing about what the changes will mean to them, and what Horizon 6 will do to the virtualization marketplace. These discussions often focus, in particular, on how VMware’s latest venture will impact Citrix, the industry leader and gold standard of virtualization.

Changes in the field should have no impact on current Citrix customers, who will still continue to receive the same market-leading desktop virtualization. Citrix most likely will see relatively little impact early on, as wholesale changes in providers are not something that can have an overwhelming draw to businesses, especially those companies who are already hosting with Citrix and are not in need of an update.

The primary target market for VMware’s Horizon 6 will be those companies who are ready to upgrade their current virtualization infrastructure. Rather than installing a new version of Citrix, VMware is hoping that these companies can be convinced to switch to the Horizon 6.

At Applications2U, we maintain partnerships with both Citrix and VMware, and thus, we will be able to offer our customers both the latest XenApp and XenDesktop from Citrix as well as VMware’s Horizon 6. We pride ourselves in being on the forefront of the Virtual Desktop industry, and when a major shift in our industry happens, we want to be able to provide the solutions that best suit the needs of our clients. Our team of IT Engineers is certified in initializing and providing the necessary support for both Citrix and VMware products.

The upshot in all of this is, first of all, if you are a current Citrix XenApp or XenDesktop user, you have no cause for alarm about the launch of VMware Horizon 6. Citrix is and will remain the industry leader in Desktop Virtualization. If Citrix is impacted at all by this change, it will only be in a positive way—competition in the marketplace encourages companies to strive to provide the best solution, which ends up with the development of superior products. As far as for new customers or companies who are ready to update their virtualization platform, we encourage you to call one of our representatives at Applications2U and he or she will help you to find which virtualization solution best meets the needs of your company.

Competition in the virtual desktop marketplace benefits everybody—it keeps industry leaders on their toes and it spurs excellence in industry newcomers. The biggest beneficiary is the clients, who can be confident that they will have multiple, outstanding desktop virtualization options to compare.