CIOL: Does endpoint virtualization mean desktop virtualization only, or is it more than that? 

SG: Generally, when we talk about virtualization, we talk about decoupling of resources. Decoupling is exactly what happens in desktop virtualization. A physical machine is decoupled from the desktop and the software that a user uses.

Desktop virtualization intends to give the user an experience that is identical to that of a standard PC, but from a thin client device or from the same office, or remotely. This is done by emulating the PC hardware environment of the user and run a virtual machine alongside the existing operating system, located on the local machine or delivered to a thin client from a data centre server.

Endpoint virtualization is done at the application level. Endpoint is a generic term and usually refers to endpoint devices such as laptops, PDAs and all other devices that enterprises use to access information. With endpoint virtualization, applications are made to think that they are isolated and the only ones existing.

The advantage with isolation is that applications are stored in a secure shell, where they run without any interference. Applications that we use on laptops and other mobility devices are decoupled from the hardware in end-point virtualization.

CIOL: What is your outlook for Endpoint virtualization?

SG: The first major innovation in 2009 will be the establishment of a standard-based approach. However, as the technology becomes more mainstream, this becomes a major complexity issue. Often, vendors begin pitting their own standards against those of other vendors, leaving IT administrators with a confusing mess of incongruence that they are usually left to sort out themselves.

The second major advance will be the development of a common set of management tool. One of the overall goals of endpoint virtualization is to simplify IT management. The problem is that most management solutions that came to market before and during 2008 are only capable of managing traditional or virtual environments, but not both.

Thus, in order to effectively manage theirinfrastructures, IT administrators who have implemented endpoint virtualization have to use an assortment of tools to keep all the environments in their infrastructure - traditional, virtual and hybrid - in check.