2014: The Year of DaaS, Hosted Desktop Virtualization?
Desktop as a service (DaaS) solutions built on VMware and Citrix are going mainstream. Cloud services providers (CSPs) are on the bandwagon. Will VARs and MSPs jump aboard, too?
When Cisco Systems announced a desktop as a service (DaaS) solution this week, plenty of channel partners stood up and took note. Well-known cloud services providers like ChannelCloud (special hello to Kent Erickson) and Logicalis plan to offer the Cisco DaaS solution. But are hosted desktops and VDI (virtual desktop integration) ready to go mainstream?
Anecdotal evidence says yes:
- Cisco’s service leverages Desktone by VMware and also supports Citrix.
- Amazon Workspaces, a DaaS service, recently launched.
- Toshiba recently launched a hosted virtual desktop service that also supports Citrix and VMware.
- Companies like independenceIT are in the market promoting a hosted desktop service to MSPs. Terremark’s former CFO has invested in independenceIT.
- Microsoft is sorting thru a DaaS strategy for Windows Azure, multiple sources have indicated.
Still, channel partners face a range of DaaS challenges. For instance:
- VARs typically don’t want to host DaaS services and will need to find trusted cloud services providers (CSPs) to host the solution.
- Most MSPs also are exiting the data center market and will therefore need CSP partners.
- Some MSPs will stay in the data center business and will seek integrated DaaS solutions that they can host.
- VARs and MSPs alike are seeking to understand how to monetize DaaS. As VARs, MSPs and CSPs potentially partner up, it could be difficult to figure out how to monetize the overall service and drive profits across the channel ecosystem.
- Integrating DaaS services with other cloud and managed services will likely require single sign on (SSO), security, mobile and other types of offerings.
- Some customers remain wary of DaaS — unwilling to move their desktop data off to cloud centers or concerned about performance and security issues.
The bottom line: The DaaS wave is building but it’s still unclear how many partners will cash in.