IBM rolls out virtual desktop package

From InfoWorld: With an eye on the small and medium-sized business market, IBM is working through resellers to roll out a VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) package that costs $150 per user annually.

The IBM Virtual Desktop for Smart Business offering should help ease the high administrative overhead normally associated with setting up VDI deployments, said Dan Cerutti, general manager of IBM's Smart Business Solutions unit. In many cases, small organizations do not have the IT expertise to deal with the complexities of VDI. This package will allow integrators to offer a headache-free VDI, he said.

"We've dramatically simplified how you order and buy these things. Everything is included in the Virtual Desktop Solution," Cerutti said.

The VDI package will allow workers to access desktops from a variety of devices, including iPads and thin clients. They could access both Microsoft Windows and Linux-based operating system desktops. Users can even run the desktops without connectivity, by use of a USB drive.

IBM will not offer this package to customers directly; instead it will offer it to resellers and integrators who service small and midsized organizations. Thus far, IBM has found about 100 partners worldwide to vend this product, Cerutti said.

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