VMware Unveils VMware Horizon Suite

VMware, Inc., the virtualisation and cloud infrastructure service provider, has unveiled the VMware Horizon Suite, a comprehensive platform for workforce mobility that will connect end users to their data, applications and desktops on any device without sacrificing IT security and control. With updates to VMware Horizon View and VMware Horizon Mirage, as well as a new product, VMware Horizon Workspace, the VMware Horizon Suite will enable IT organisations to empower users with a secure, easy-to-manage virtual workspace that delivers a consistent, compelling experience across devices.

“Our customers are looking for a comprehensive, enterprise-class solution to empower workers in a world where the proliferation of devices and consumer cloud services have changed user expectations, while putting IT security and governance at risk,” said Boaz Chalamish, Senior Vice President and General Manager, End-User Computing, VMware. “VMware virtualisation has helped hundreds of thousands of customers change what is possible in the datacentre, and we believe it can have the same transformative impact in end-user computing. The VMware Horizon Suite will help our customers accelerate their journeys from the PC Era to the Multi-Device Era.”

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A report by Forrester Research Inc. finds the use of personal devices outside of IT control alarming — with 67 percent of employees using personally selected smartphones and 46 percent using personally selected laptops – none of which were approved or issued by the company. And, a recent survey by VMware found that 83 percent of IT administrators wanted to prevent the use of consumer online storage and collaboration applications. The VMware Horizon Suite is designed to solve the security and governance challenges these consumer-ready applications and devices bring to enterprises, enabling IT to meet the demands of their users with a virtual workspace that is secure, compliant and easy to manage.

The VMware Horizon Suite will bring together VMware’s desktop virtualisation solution and technologies VMware has built from the ground up to support a mobile, collaborative workforce, including Project Octopus, Project AppBlast, Project AppShift, VMware ThinApp, VMware Horizon Application Manager and VMware Horizon Mobile into a single, unified solution. An integrated platform to support the mobile workforce, the VMware Horizon Suite is designed to transform technology silos of data, applications and desktops into centralised IT services that can be easily provisioned, managed and delivered to end-users. It includes:

VMware introduced Horizon Workspace, a new product that will simplify the end-user experience and reduce IT costs by combining data, applications and desktops into a single aggregated workspace, that can be securely delivered on any device.

With VMware Horizon Workspace, IT administrators will be able to allocate data, applications or desktops to end users or groups instead of their devices, and end users will be able to self-provision corporate applications and services to reduce the burden on IT. This enables a quick and responsive IT department that can deliver the right data, application or desktop to any device, on the fly. Horizon Workspace will also enable organisations to easily add new devices, users or applications without having to reconfigure the devices or endpoints. In addition, centralised management simplifies the enforcement and management of user policies so the entire solution will enhance safety and security.

Transforming traditional physical PCs into centralised managed IT services, VMware Horizon View 5.2 will deliver elastic desktop services as a virtual workspace for ultimate control and flexibility for user experience, administration and service. New simplified access to remote Horizon View desktops using any HTML 5 capable browser will enable end users to conveniently access their virtual desktop and applications on any device without having to install burdensome client software ahead of time. Support for hardware-accelerated 3-D graphics will enable the most graphically intensive applications to run inside virtual desktops, opening new industries such as CAD (computer assisted design) and CAM (computer assisted manufacturing) to VDI. Lastly, Horizon View 5.2 with Unity will offer a new intuitive, gesture-oriented interface to transform your Windows mobile environment into a tablet-friendly user experience.

VMware Horizon Mirage 4 will provide an optimal end-user experience for both online and offline productivity while lowering IT costs with zero-touch management of desktop services. Horizon Mirage is a layered image management solution that separates the PC into logical layers owned and managed by either IT or the end user. Horizon Mirage 4 will give IT the ability to update individual layers without disruption to other layers, thus enabling end-user data and applications to be up to date. In addition, integration with VMware ThinApp application virtualisation streamlines application packaging, which can enable smoother OS migrations and provide “roll-back” capabilities in case of failure or disaster. VMware Horizon Mirage 4 also extends support for virtual Windows environments on Macs with a free bundle of VMware Fusion Professional, improving end user productivity.

VMware Professional Services can help customers accelerate their move to the multi-device era with consulting services for VMware Horizon Suite. VMware Professional Services Consultants bring the expertise and know-how to customers to efficiently design and implement the solution to deliver business results.