Cheaper virtual desktops from Citrix soon

BARCELONA, SPAIN: Enterprise software company Citrix Systems is aiming at making virtual desktops a cheaper option as compared to personal computers.

The company executives believe that virtual desktops would be cheaper to buy and deploy than traditional PCs within the next six months.

Especially with the cost of hardware coming down, desktop visualization, which was viewed as something held back by the cost factor, might become history soon.

In his keynote address at Citrix Synergy 2011 on Wednesday, chief executive (CEO) of Citrix, Mark Templeton, said that it was the latest technologies from his firm that could make virtual desktops drop to a price tag 25 per cent below that of a PC.

Templeton said he was sure the price would continue to drop as well. "We will be reducing it even further and you can expect it by the next Synergy event," he said, adding, "We will have the capabilities and the flexibility to bring the desktop from being a device to being a service you can deliver anywhere.”

John Fanelli, vice-president of enterprise desktops and applications, Citrix, claimed at the forum that the "inflection point" of virtual desktops being more affordable than PCs had arrived.

"XenDesktop customers... are very confident of the return on investment and total cost of ownership; those two things are never questioned," he said during a press briefing at Citrix Synergy 2011.

"What they are starting to ask about... it still feels like it is costing me a lot to get into the game."

Fanelli said the company was "declaring" the virtual desktop option would be the most cost effective in six months. He added, "It makes it almost a no-brainer to go virtual rather than digital."

Fanelli, however, claimed the likes of Citrix HDX on a chip, could make virtual deployments as little as $100 each, compared to the average $900 cost of a PC.

The tide is turning as far as the pricing of virtual desktops is concerned, thereby making them the cheaper option, according to Citrix executives.