NComputing Inc., a client virtualization solutions provider, has unveiled a new desktop as a service (DaaS) solution aimed towards small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) and delivered through service providers.
The new solution is geared towards helping small businesses run their applications and get the most out of their computing power, without having to outfit all of their employees with fully-fledged PCs. And given that SMBs have limited budgets and smaller IT departments, it’s difficult for them to build and manage their own desktop virtualization solutions, so what NComputing has done is create an end-to-end solution for SMBs who want to be able to access their applications from anywhere.
For SMBs, they can be up and running with their virtualizations in a matter of days, while it takes service providers a few months to sign on with NComputing, says Dave Burton, vice-president of global marketing.
“We’re well-suited for the SMB customer in terms of their unique requirements around limited budgets, limited resources, limited IT staff, and in some cases, limited IT skill sets for doing everything on-premise,” he says.
“With that is the promise of desktop as a service, a good fit for small to mid-sized businesses, because if they can essentially outsource their desktops by virtualizing them and having them hosted for them in the cloud, they can one-offload the infrastructure requirements … and to trust a service provider or a partner to manage the virtual desktop in the cloud for them, and they can focus on other things specifically.”
He adds that NComputing’s solution differs from what’s already on the market. Most virtualization solutions are offered through virtual desktop infrastructure, which is usually the province of enterprise organizations. However, NComputing’s new DaaS solution is offered through server-based computing and the cloud.
The other selling points for NComputing’s solution are that it offers endpoint connectivity, as well as a “plug and play” solution that doesn’t require configuration on the service provider’s part, Burton says.
As NComputing is offering its new DaaS solution through service providers, pricing will vary. However, SMBs can expect to pay somewhere below $30 per user per month, Burton says.
Along with its announcement about its new solution, NComputing is also naming its first service provider to use the solution – So-net, a Japanese company that was acquired by Sony in 2012. It offers Internet connectivity, virtual private networks, and cloud computing solutions to its customers in Japan.
While So-net is its first confirmed service provider, NComputing is in talks with other service providers in North America and the EMEA, with a Canadian availability date tentatively scheduled for some time “this calendar year,” Burton says.
NComputing will also roll out a service provider program in the second half of 2014. It currently has about 70,000 customers in 140 countries.
