Cover Story
IT Strategy
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure By Sneha Jha
When Sterlite Technologies wanted to set up an optical fibre plant in Shendra (near Aurangabad), its Head-IT, Md. Jawed Ahmed, was ecstatic. This was a blessing in disguise and his chance to play with a relatively new technology like virtual desktop infrastructure or VDI.
easy a project to implement. Here are some lessons they have learnt.
Cost Isn’t Its Selling Point
Cost cutting is everybody’s favorite reason to virtualize. But when it comes The company had been contemplating taking the VDI route for quite some to getting buy-in for VDI, saving costs time but it was difficult to do it in a piecemeal manner. Ahmed was just should be the last benefit on your list. waiting for an opportunity to get his hands on a consolidated requirement Ahmed, for example, realized that for a large number of desktops. And the Shendra plant had a one-time the best way of selling the idea to manrequirement of 200 computers—just what he needed. agement was not pushing it as a costBut apart from the appeal of using new technology, Ahmed knew that a optimization strategy. “Cost savings is virtual desktop solution would resolve some of the most critical business actually a misnomer. Instead, look at concerns lingering in the mind of Sanjit Singh Bhatia, plant head-Shendra, improving reliability, customer or user Sterlite Technologies. “Procurement of new desktops was an immediate need and service, manageability, and adding capacity meant that the ugly challenges the overall working environof operational manageability would crop up,” ment. Only then business will he says. Also, manufacturing optical fibre is a buy the idea. I sold it to busiguarded technology so there were issues relating ness on those considerations to intellectual property and data security. and it worked like a charm,” It was clear that VDI was an idea whose time he says. had come. Don’t sell VDI as a Analysts agree. “Our reAnd today, six months after launching the cost-saving technology. search shows that cost is not initiative, the organization is reaping VDI’s the prime driver for VDI. benefits. Unlike normal desktops that consume Do a reccee before Business isn’t turning a blind almost 200 watts of power, Ahmed says his picking a VDI product. eye to the savings from virvirtual desktops consume only 7-8 watts. tualization, but they like to “Unlike a conventional solution we are using Remember that one see it in the context of ‘bigonly 1/20th or 1/30th power consumption.” size doesn’t fit all. ger-picture’ requirements: The project has also reduced the company’s Reduce manageability woes, carbon footprint. Enthused by these benefits, Develop in-house improve BCP and data seSterlite is expanding the project to its largest VDI experts. curity, and provide workers optical fibre manufacturing plant in Waluj, also anytime/anywhere access to in Aurangabad. Keep hardware sizing their desktops.” Although, server virtualization has in mind when planning And cost wasn’t the foreconsistently got good press, it’s cousin VDI isn’t for VDI. most concern when Prashanth as popular. That’s probably because those who M.J., CTO, Firstsource Solugot their hands dirty know that VDI isn’t as 44
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