Strong business interest and Microsoft lowering the cost of licenses makes market conditions right for Virtual Desktop adoption

Reading, UK, April 22, 2010 – IGEL Technology, Europe’s leading thin client manufacturer, today reported strong thin client sales in the first quarter of 2010 and predicted continued growth on the back of interest in Virtual Desktop deployments.

IGEL Technology reported sales from January to March 2010 up more than 20% across Europe over the first quarter 2009. The strong interest in Virtual Desktops from customers and Microsoft’s decision to clear up urgent licensing issues to make VDI technology simpler to deploy and more affordable bodes well for Virtual Desktop adoption, the company said.

“Our sales figures for the first three months of this year are way above expectations,” said Simon Richards, UK General Manager at IGEL. “Feedback from mid-sized companies is very clear, they no longer want to continue investing in conventional standalone PCs and are looking to acquire thin clients or migrate their existing PCs with thin client software, such as the IGEL Universal Desktop Converter. Many of these companies are looking at a virtual desktop strategy moving forward.”

Analyst group Gartner predicts that virtual desktops in use will climb to 74 million by 2014, 15% of all desktops. Gartner’s forecast is based on several growth factors. Virtual desktops deliver the familiar user experience of PCs easily combined with the efficiency of a thin client environment. In addition, the changeover to VDI – called HVD (Hosted Virtual Desktops) by Gartner – offers a prime opportunity to make savings of 10% in management costs and 45% on hardware.

Microsoft to Lower Licensing Costs for Virtualizing Windows Desktops
An additional incentive for Virtual Desktop comes from Microsoft. Starting on July 1, 2010, users with Windows Client Software Assurance (SA) will no longer need to have a separate VECD license (Virtual Centralized Desktop) to access virtual Windows desktops by means of thin clients. Without Software Assurance, a newly created, yet somewhat cheaper VDA license (Virtual Desktop Access) will be required. However, this new license includes the right to use centrally hosted virtual Windows desktops and MS-Office applications from additional end devices outside of the company network. In addition to simplifying the previously existing licensing system, Microsoft® and Citrix® are jointly making special offers to facilitate economical changeovers to their respective VDI systems.