In traditional business environments, workers suffer from productivity loss in many ways, including downtime during PC refreshes, patches and updates, or simply when they are away from the office. Application and desktop virtualization centralizes apps and desktops in the datacenter, rather than on local devices. This allows IT to deliver apps and desktops to users on demand, to any device, anywhere.

Unfortunately, organizations sometimes struggle to achieve this level of success. Why does one organization succeed while another organization struggles?

If we compare the factors between success and failure between desktop virtualization and other technology related projects, we see that there is little difference:

Lack of justification – Without a solid business reason, desktop virtualization is simply a new way to deliver a desktop. A business justification gives the project team a goal to strive towards.

Lack of a methodology – Many people who try and struggle to deploy a desktop virtualization solution do so because they jump right in without understanding or implementing the appropriate prerequisites. A structured methodology provides the path for the project.

Lack of experience – For many who embark on a desktop virtualization project, there is a lack of experience, which creates a lack of confidence in the design. Architects begin to second-guess themselves and the project stalls.

Our hope is that this handbook can alleviate the anxiety associated with desktop virtualization by showing how challenges can be resolved in a manner that is technically sound, but also feasible and effective for organizations facing deadlines and other organizational challenges.

Citrix has successfully employed the methodology, experience and best practices shared within this handbook across thousands of desktop virtualization projects.