When it comes to virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), MSPs have more reasons than ever to pay attention. While the technology can mean everything from streamlined network administration and increased employee mobility to disaster recovery, Meaningful Use and HIPAA initiatives have added interoperability benefits to the mix that make the market an even more attractive one.
To help you get better perspective on that market, we took a look at a survey from healthcare IT solutions provier, Imprivata. The 2013 Desktop Virtualization Trends In Healthcare covers trends around adoption rates and benefits of VDI and is Imprivata’s third year gathering the information.
Market Growth
Imprivata found in their 2012 survey that adoption of VDI was increasing in the industry, with 40 percent of respondents saying their organization used server hosted virtual desktops (SHVD) and 60 percent saying they used server based computing (SBC). The 2013 survey was modified to provide even deeper insight into industry trends.
The growth has continued into 2013, with 75 percent of respondents saying they use SBC and 57 percent using SHVD, which is in line with the 12-month predictions of the 2012 survey.
The survey also found that a mixed use of both SBC and SHVD is becoming more common, with 49 percent of survey respondents indicating they use both technologies in 2013, an increase from 23 percent in 2012.
On the organizational side, healthcare entities are using a mix of endpoint devices for SBC and SHVD. Adoption rates with thin and zero clients have increased rapidly and tablets and smartphones are emerging as endpoint devices in VDI environments.
Who Are The Users?
SBC is used commonly across the industry, with use being prevalent regardless of organization size. Most notably though, SBC use is most common in larger organizations with more than 100 beds, where an average of 87 percent of organizations use the technology. Use ranges from 58 percent in organizations with less than 100 beds, to 95 percent in organizations with more than 1000.
SHVD shows a little more variation, with organizations with between 100 and 299 beds showing the highest use (80 percent), but it still shows similar trends, with organizations over 100 beds showing the most use overall.
What Are The Benefits?
Across the industry, the primary benefit of SBC tended to be increased productivity. Once organizations cracked 500 beds though, they saw the technology as providing the most benefit in the form of improved mobility. In regard to IT, the greatest benefit seen was “ease of application deployment,” with 42 percent of respondents choosing this answer.
SHVD showed similar results, with 35 percent of end user respondents appreciating the increased productivity it brought with it, and 37 percent of respondents indicating that the biggest benefit to IT was reduced costs.
The Cloud
Cloud-based application increased more quickly than expected, with 30 percent of respondents indicating they use the cloud today (up from nine percent in the 2012 survey). The trend is expected to continue, both because of history, and because 40 percent of respondents indicated they expect to be using cloud-based applications in the next 12 months.
MSPs interested in not only finding new market opportunity, but in also relating the benefits of their offerings to current clients will find it beneficial to download and familiarize themselves with the complete survey, available at Imprivata’s website.
