Comments on: Brian sticks the knife in…

By: CP

CP — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:30:31 +0000

VMware has a pedigree based in reducing physical servers in a data centre – you might argue they owned the monopoly on this business for while back there (maybe still do?). Citrix has a pedigree around remote client and application provisioning.

Now I dont’ want to argue the pro’s and con’s of VMware versus Citrix – but understand where the market see’s these companies tour de force. WMware will have a hard time convincing the market that they now know how to do “desktops” – just as Citrix will struggle to convince the market that they know “server consolidation”. I’m not even calling the outcome but it’s fascinating to watch the struggle. In fact as time moves on I suspect they will both be able to match each other fucntionally in both areas – but in the meantime I rather suspect the market will approach them for the seperate animals they currently are – respecting what each brings to the table.

This answer thread is also part of that debate and struggle so I thought I’d better throw my two pennies worth in.

By: Komkommertijd in VDI-land « EarlyBert

Komkommertijd in VDI-land « EarlyBert — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:38:04 +0000

[...] om zijn soms provocerende uitspraken – wint daarbij wat mij betreft de meeste sympathie. Hij geeft Brian namelijk gelijk! Levert toch weer aardig leesvoer [...]

By: Mike Laverick

Mike Laverick — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:01:52 +0000

Yep, I agree on what you saying – I understand the difference between multiwin and singlewin (remember I’m a former CCI ) Clear VDI and Server-based computing are TOTAL different models. You equally say that server-based computing is superior because an application is installed once – for many users. But generally, people do compare them – and having started out with a shared desktop model – people quickly find not everything runs in that platform. Rightly or wrongly that’s a disappointment to them – so they start to think that maybe shared desktop isn’t the way forward… My point was actually a general one – which is when customers get disgruntled about an existing solution from a vendor (Citrix XenApp for example) and annoyed/irratated by the licensing model – this tends to affect their WHOLE opinon of the company… In short rightly or wrongly people seem to have fallen out of love with Citrix and in love with VMware

By: tdimaggio

tdimaggio — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 16:49:49 +0000

Nice article, but I disagree with point 2:

Secondly, Brain talks of Citrix and others as being the masters of delivering a remote desktop/compute environment. Don’t get my wrong – I love Citrix WinFrame/MetaFrame/Presentation/XenApp/WTF! server – but I’ve met many people who ****ing hate it too – both system admins and end-users. The complain about licensing cost and the fact that not every application can run. So these are the very same people who are going to deliver your virtual desktop.

I agree on the license part, but you’re comparing Terminal Services to VDI. Yes not every app runs on Terminal Services, both MS Terminal Services, and Citrix XenApp on top of MSTS. However that’s an app that doesn’t work well in a multi-user environment. They work on VDI because it’s not multi-user.