Nemeites Reseaich 2u11 ! www.nemeites.com ! 888-241-268S !

BN17S1

!
!"#$%&'(%#) !"#$%&' )*+%,-.*/-%*&0 !!"# %&'(')*
!"##$%&'()&"%*! #$%& '( )*+$,&-+&. /--0 &1
!"#$


By John E. Burke and Irwin Lazar, Nemertes Research

Executive Summary
!"#$%&' )*#+,%#& #- .&%-%/* 0#112&%3),%#&4 )&* 5%",2)6 7/48,#+
9&-")4,"23,2"/ 3"/),/4 ,:/ +#,/&,%)6 -#" 3#&-6%3,; )4 579 4#62,%#&4 124, 42++#", "/)6<
,%1/ =#%3/ )&* =%*/# )++6%3),%#&4; )&* =%3/<=/"4)> ?2, 579 3#1@%&/* $%,: .0 )64#
#--/"4 #++#",2&%,%/4 ,# 4%1+6%-A */48,#+ /&=%"#&1/&,4; )&* 4/32"/6A /B,/&* .0 ,#
1#@%6/ +6),-#"14> 9C )"3:%,/3,4 124, +"#)3,%=/6A +6)& -#" ,:/ 3#1@%&),%#& #- .0 )&*
579 #" "%48 -%&*%&' ,:/14/6=/4 $%,: 24/"4 *%4/&-")&3:%4/* -"#1 #&/ #" ,:/ #,:/";
$)4,/* "/4#2"3/4; )&* ,:$)",/* 4,"),/'%/4>

The Issue
Enteipiise auoption of both uesktop viitualization, piimaiily in the foim of
viitual Besktop Infiastiuctuie (vBI) anu 0nifieu Communications (0C) aie giowing
steauily, piesenting oppoitunities foi IT manageis to ieuuce costs, simplify
management, impiove enu-usei expeiiences, anu impiove collaboiationbut these
uual tienus aie also cieating challenges in suppoiting ieal-time, banuwiuth
intensive applications ovei vBI. Aichitects neeu to auuiess issues ielateu to voice
anu viueo captuie anu playback, meuia tianspoit, anu netwoik peifoimance
management to ensuie a successful ueployment foi 0C (anu othei meuia-iich
applications) ovei vBI. They must also auuiess the giowing neeu to suppoit 0C
ovei vBI foi an expanuing iange of uevices incluuing smaitphones anu tablets.
UC Trends: A Richer Desktop Experience
0nifieu Communications has emeigeu as a ciitical tool foi suppoiting the
collaboiative neeus of an incieasingly uistiibuteu anu viitual woikfoice. Biiven by
neeus to piomote collaboiation among staff not physically co-locateu, as well as
between staff anu customeis oi supplieis, anu by the uesiie to take auvantage of

Nemeites Reseaich 2u11 ! www.nemeites.com ! 888-241-268S !BN17S1

#
impioveu technologies such as integiateu voice, viueo, anu Web confeiencing foi
iichei anu moie effective collaboiation, 6S.8% of companies will have ueployeu 0C
tools by the enu of 2u11, accoiuing to Nemeites 2u11-2u12 benchmaik of
enteipiise IT. (All figuies quoteu heie come fiom this souice.) Nost of the
iemainuei aie ueploying in 2u12, oi evaluating anu planning a 0C stiategy. 0nly
12.1% of companies have no plans to ueploy 0C.

The goals of unifieu communications aie two-folu:
To integiate uispaiate communications applications into a common set of
usei inteifaces accessible acioss fixeu anu mobile uevices.
To integiate those applications into business piocesses, giving inuiviuuals
anu teams the tools they neeu to communicate within the constiaints of
specific opeiational iequiiements. The extensible natuie of 0C allows IT
aichitects to embeu communication anu collaboiation capabilities
thioughout the suite of business piocess applications.

A key tienu in 0C ueployments is a shift of applications such as voice anu viueo
fiom the haiu phone to the uesktop oi laptop PC. Eighty-five peicent of companies
aie ueploying, planning to ueploy oi evaluating softphones as pait of theii 0C
ueployments, while 79% aie uoing the same foi uesktop viueo. Besktop viueo
confeiencing is giowing iapiuly: foi example, S1.S% hau moie than 1uu seats in Q1
of 2u11, anu that will climb to 4u% by the enu of yeai (2S% giowth); likewise,
16.7% have moie than a thousanu seats, going to 2S.1% yet this yeai (S8% giowth).
VDI: Reducing Costs and Complexity
So, enteipiises aie builuing uesktop-uepenuent plans foi 0C. What aie they
planning foi the uesktop. This yeai, moie than halfS2.S%of enteipiises have
ueployeu oi plan to ueploy uesktop viitualization by yeai's enu. Appioximately 6u%
expect to be using viitual uesktops by 2u1S. Significantly, only 14.8% say they have
no plans to uo any uesktop viitualization, a little moie than half as many as hau no
plans last yeai.
Nost oiganizations using viitual uesktops iun them on uata-centei seiveis,
as a viitual uesktop infiastiuctuie (vBI). Foity-seven peicent of oiganizations
alieauy use vBI, anu 8.S% have implementeu a uistiibuteu veision (which places
viitual uesktop host seiveis in bianch offices, not just the uata centei). The key
ieasons enteipiises give foi ueploying vBI aie to impiove the management anu
secuiity of uesktops, anu the quality of the telewoik expeiience. They aie
incieasingly also looking to impiove the agility anu flexibility of uesktop seivices
to pioviue enteipiise applications to useis in moie situations than evei befoie.
Some aie also looking to mitigate the pain anu expense of a Winuows 7 iollout by
keeping Win7 in the uata centei anu avoiuing a haiuwaie iefiesh to hanule it at the
uesktop.

Nemeites Reseaich 2u11 ! www.nemeites.com ! 888-241-268S !BN17S1

$
Youve Got Your VDI in My UC
uiven the spieau of both technologies thiough the enteipiise, it is inevitable
that 0C anu vBI will have to coexist. Although actual ueployment of 0C unuei vBI is
cuiiently pietty lowonly 2.9% of oiganizations use them in combination nowa
thiiu of oiganizations aie testing tools anu evaluating theii options. Beie IT leaueis
aie often constiaineu by the inability of theii uesktop viitualization solution to
suppoit 0C. "We hau to conveit ovei 2uu thin-clients back to Winuows PCs to
suppoit oui viueo plans," says the uiiectoi of telecom foi a healthcaie fiim.

%&'()* 1+ ,-. /01 23 45'*67*) 50 67* 8/1/)
0ften, these challenges iesult fiom the lack of cooiuination between 0C anu
uesktop teams. "We piloteu it last yeai anu ian into challenges in teims of suppoit
anu peifoimance," says the telecom aichitect foi a global financial-seivices fiim.
The heau of global aichitectuie foi a manufactuiing company saw similai
challenges: "We hau issues ielateu to banuwiuth anu peifoimance. We'ie going to
give the venuois a yeai to get it iight anu tiy again." The voice technology aichitect
foi a national ietail company says, "We hau to sciub oui uesktop voiceviueo plans
because the vBI solution woulun't suppoit oui solution," ieaffiiming the neeu foi
0C anu viitualization teams to woik hanu-in-hanu on stiategy anu aichitectuie.
The ciux of the potential foi pioblems is the neeu to encoue anu uecoue voice
anu viueo. It simply isn't feasible at scale to caiiy iaw voiceviueo uata fiom the
enupoint to the uata centei to be encoueu, oi to uecoue it all theie anu senu the
viueoauuio bits to the enupoint. What may woik foi uozens of connections won't
foi hunuieus, let alone thousanus. Belay anu piocessing iequiiements auu up to
iesult in pooi peifoimance anu excessive costs.

Nemeites Reseaich 2u11 ! www.nemeites.com ! 888-241-268S !BN17S1

9
The potential foi peifoimance pioblems, both in ueliveiy ovei the netwoik
anu within the uata centei on the seiveis hosting the viitual uesktops, can be
uaunting. Some pioblems follow uiiectly fiom the wiue vaiiability of WAN, Inteinet,
anu mobile uata peifoimance anu accessibility. Being able to ieach anu use a viitual
uesktop fiom anywheie, useis woulu expect to be able to use all the tools within it
fiom anywheie as well, but the longei anu less ieliable the link between host seivei
anu client uevice, the moie uiie the effects of latency anu packet loss on vulneiable
ieal-time communications tiaffic (anu othei meuia tiaffic as well). 0thei pioblems
can come in simply because ieal-time voice anu viueo tiaffic is being embeuueu
within the viitual uesktop piotocol stieam; any failuie in piioiitization oi
banuwiuth management can huit ieliability oi peifoimance. So, foi iobust ueliveiy
of vBI seivices we see enteipiises fine tuning QoS settings on theii WANs anu
sometimes ueploying WAN optimization.
Anothei kinu of pioblem can aiise when the woik of encouing anu uecouing
voice anu viueo tiaffic is shifteu to the host seivei: a few viitual uesktops cieating
this kinu of loau woulu be no pioblem, but uozens oi hunuieus coulu seiiously
uegiaue seivei peifoimance anu so viitual uesktop iesponsiveness anu usability.
Foi mobile useis, ovei vaiiable oi slow-speeu wiieless netwoiks, leveiaging
0C applications ovei vBI isn't feasible foi these same ieasons (peifoimance,
latency, costs). Thus, with the incieasing focus on mobile platfoims companies will
finu that unless they specifically auuiess mobility in theii 0C anu vBI plans, they
will lack an effective solution meeting woikei iequiiements.
When the uiffeient functional silos in IT have faileu to communicate anu
collaboiate in theii planning, you see not the integiation but the collision of vBI anu
0C. uiven all the potential foi pioblems in ueliveiing soliu peifoimance, anu the
too-common pioblem of lack of cooiuination, some oiganizations aie simply
ignoiing the potential pioblem foi now. The managei of infoimation secuiity at a
laige manufactuiei notes, "We uon't think we have banuwiuth to test 0C ovei
viitual. Let's give them anothei yeai to figuie out solutions." Bowevei, ignoiing a
pioblem you aie likely to face has nevei been a long-teim viable stiategy foi IT.
Insteau, by auuiessing ciitical questions in auvance, IT leaueis can solve 0CvBI
challenges anu take auvantage of the benefits of both technologies.
UC & VDI: Key Questions And Answers Enterprise Architects Need to Know
In oiuei to plan foi the inevitable combination of uesktop-baseu 0C tools
with viitual uesktops, IT piofessionals must make impoitant uecisions about the
funuamental oiganization of woik in the enviionment. Beie aie some questions IT
must ask itself:
! What aie the vaiious aichitectuial options foi iunning 0C ovei vBI.
o The basic options aie :*06)/;&<*1 anu 1&=6)&>(6*1 piocessing.
o 3*06)/;&<*1: In keeping with the basic vBI philosophy of centializing PC
woikloaus, centializeu 0C piocessing pushes the woik of viitualization
onto uata centei seiveis anu netwoiks.

Nemeites Reseaich 2u11 ! www.nemeites.com ! 888-241-268S !BN17S1

?
o -&=6)&>(6*1: This mouel takes auvantage of the powei available on
mouein enu-point uevices, whethei full PC, mobile uevice like
smaitphone oi tablet, oi thin client. Piocessing of some oi all meuia
stieams is 7/01*1 off to the local uevice anu seamlessly maue to appeai
as though it is iunning wheie the iest of the vPC's woik is iunning.
! What aie the pioscons of each option.
o 3*06)/;&<*1
" Pios: Letting meuia hanuling go wheie the iest of the piocessing goes
makes the execution mouel simple anu pieuictable anu means
peifoimance will be ioughly the same inuepenuent of enupoint
uevice, anu that enupoints without any native piocessing powei will
woik as well as anything else.
" Cons: Pushing all the woik into the uata centei means accepting the
peifoimance hits of uoing all auuio anu viueo encouing anu uecouing
iemotely iathei than on the uevice. It auus iounu-tiip latency to eveiy
pixel anu sounu. It auus significant volumes of ieal-time-peifoimance
tiaffic to the LAN anu WAN anu uata centei netwoik, embeuueu
within the vBI stieam. It will also uiamatically anu unpieuictably
inciease the piocessing loau a single viitual uesktop uiives, pushing
uown vPC-to-host stacking iatios anuoi huiting vPC iesponsiveness
even foi those not using 0C tools. Foi these ieasons, Nemeites uoes
not auvise the centializeu mouel foi 0C ovei vBI foi any laige-scale
ueployment.

%&'()* #+ 3*06)/; @)5:*==&0' 5A B;; BC, -/6/

Nemeites Reseaich 2u11 ! www.nemeites.com ! 888-241-268S !BN17S1

D
o -&=6)&>(6*1
" Pios: 0tilizing the powei of enu-point uevices to piocess meuia
stieams means bettei meuia peifoimance as the local piocessoi can
iesponu to meuia fastei. Piocessing on the client also ielieves the loau
on the seivei, so peifoimance won't vaiy uepenuing on seivei
loauing. Anu, piocessing meuia at enupoints allows fuithei netwoik
optimizations such as content caching, giving IT moie options foi
tuning seivice ueliveiy.
" Cons: 0n the minus siue, the hanu off of some piocessing to enupoints
while ietaining othei paits in the hosts, as well as the ieveise-
seamless integiation that makes it all appeai to happen in one place,
is complex, anu makes peifoimance vaiiable uepenuent on the
abilities of the enu noue.

%&'()* $+ E5:/; @)5:*==&0' 5A BC, -/6/

! Bow will my choices in the uata centei affect my choices at the uesktop (anu
vice veisa).
o Consiuei how host seiveis must be configuieu anu manageu in the uata
centei, anu balance the costs of spenuing auuitional capital uollais to max
out RAN anu coie counts in oiuei to hanule meuia piocessing centially
against the costs of continuing to suppoit "fat" clients on the enupoint,
with cheapei local piocessing anu memoiy but highei opeiational costs
in the foim of enupoint management.

Nemeites Reseaich 2u11 ! www.nemeites.com ! 888-241-268S !BN17S1

F
o Choosing the client eithei pioviues oi uoesn't pioviue local iesouices foi
the piocessing of the auuioviueo stieams.
" Fat clienta full PC with opeiating systempioviues local powei.
" Thin client, with minimal softwaie on the enupoint can uo so as well.
" A zeio client will not pioviue the local piocessing powei.
! Bow can I extenu my vBI0C aichitectuie to suppoit the neeus of mobile
woikeis anu new uevices such as smaitphones anu tablets.
o Exploie optionsmobile-uevice access clients anu platfoim choicesfoi
letting mobiles piocess theii own auuio anu viueo, to help compensate foi
the less ieliable anu peifoimant mobile uata netwoiks.
o Exploie options foi installing uiiect-access mobile 0C clients on mobile
uevices, oi otheiwise incoipoiating them uiiectly into the 0C
aichitectuie (tiauitional fixeu-mobile conveigence.)
The Checklist
0nueistanuing key uesign uecisions to be maue, IT must ask theii venuois anu
seivice pioviueis how they can help auuiess integiation of 0C anu vBI. At the veiy
least, they shoulu ask the following checklist of questions:

- Boes youi voIP0C solution have special suppoit foi use in a vBI
enviionment. Aie all 0C featuies (voice, viueo, confeiencing, piesence,
messaging) suppoiteu.
0C
- What iange of enupoints uoes youi vBI solution suppoit, anu how uoes it
compaie to the iange you suppoit oi expect to suppoit in the next few
yeais.
vBI
- Bow uoes youi vBI solution hanule piocessing of iich meuia tiaffic
geneially.
vBI
- Bow uoes it hanule 0C tiaffic specifically. vBI
- Boes the combination of vBI solution plus voIP0C solution allow foi
both iemote (uata centei) anu local (enupoint) piocessing of iaw Av
uata.
vBI+0C
- If it suppoits local piocessing of Av uata, on what iange of enupoints. vBI+0C
- Boes hanuling at the enupoint vaiy with enupoint type. Bow. vBI+0C
- What aie suggesteu seivei specs anu vN uensities (how many viitual PCs
pei seivei with a given configuiation) when iunning 0C voiceviueo
piocessing on enupoints. 0n hosts.
Bata Centei
- What aie the secuiity piovisions foi local piocessing of iich meuia, in 0C
anu vBI solutions. Is locally piocesseu uata enciypteu while iesiuent anu
ieliably ueleteu aftei use.
Secuiity
- Can youi WAN suppoit necessaiy QoS. If it iequiies auuitional layeieu
optimization, what optimizeis will woik best with the vBI solution. The
voIP0C solution.
Application Beliveiy
0ptimization

Nemeites Reseaich 2u11 ! www.nemeites.com ! 888-241-268S !BN17S1

G
Conclusions and Recommendations
Enteipiise auoption of both vBI anu 0C is giowing steauily, piesenting
oppoitunities foi IT manageis to ieuuce costs, simplify management, anu impiove
collaboiationbut also cieating challenges in suppoiting ieal-time, banuwiuth
intensive applications ovei vBI. Aichitects neeu to auuiess issues ielateu to voice
anu viueo captuie anu playback, meuia tianspoit, anu netwoik peifoimance
management to ensuie successful ueployment of 0Canu othei meuia-iich
applicationsin a vBI enviionment.
To make the most of 0C anu vBI togethei, in auuition to asking the questions noteu
above, IT manageis shoulu:
! Test viitual uesktops, if you haven't alieauy. The technology only gets
betteifastei, cheapei, moie scalableanu the soft savings on management
anu secuiity get steauily moie compelling as the haiu costs come to meet oi
beat those of tiauitional uesktop ueployment. Exploie multiple aichitectuial
options to finu the one oi ones best suiteu to youi neeus. All oiganizations
begin by asking which use cases coulu suppoit viitual uesktops; by the enu of
evaluation anu pilot, many now ask insteau which use cases piecluue theii
use.
! If you have viitual uesktop capabilities alieauy, test meuia applications foi
compatibility with viitual uesktops. Incompatibility is iaie foi majoi apps,
but peifoimance pioblems aie not.
! Test especially youi 0C tools unuei youi viitual uesktop solutions. Look foi
how woik is uistiibuteu, how auuio anu viueo peifoim ovei WAN links,
especially long (high-latency) ones; anu how 0C woikloaus affect viitual-
uesktop-to-host-seivei stacking. Beploying 0C may change youi viitual
uesktop mouel, youi infiastiuctuie costs, anu youi WAN tiaffic management
anu optimization plans.
! Test viitual uesktop access fiom suppoiteu mobile platfoims. Bow useful the
viitual uesktop is will vaiy uiamatically baseu on usei inteifaces, scieen anu
keyboaiu sizes, anu piocessing powei on the mobile. So, testing against the
platfoims most common to youi mobile woikfoice anu othei key
constituents (ieau: execs with tablets) will help level set expectations at the
outset, anu let IT focus on amelioiating pioblems that aie uiscoveieu.


B>5(6 H*I*)6*= 8*=*/):7+ Nemeites Reseaich is a ieseaich-auvisoiy anu consulting fiim
that specializes in analyzing anu quantifying the business value of emeiging technologies.
You can leain moie about Nemeites Reseaich at oui Website, www.nemeites.com, oi
contact us uiiectly at ieseaichnemeites.com.