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News and insights from the vibrant world of virtualization and cloud computing

Study: 30 Percent Of IT Will Be Cloud-Based By 2015

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The US cloud computing market is poised for strong growth, as an increasing percentage of enterprise information technology is now becoming cloud-based. According to new research from WaveLength Market Analytics and Winn Technology Group, 58% of medium and large enterprises are already using or planning to use the cloud.

About 41% of that market is comprised of ‘Cloud Pioneers’, those enterprises that actively use or pilot some type of cloud solution. Another 17%, dubbed ‘Cloud Planners’, are planning to implement a cloud solution.

Next to Software-as-a-Service, the most common solutions deployed by companies are Platform-as-a-Service, with 54.8%, hosted private Cloud with 32%, and Infrastructure-as-a-Service with nearly 26%. In the next two years, enterprise IT buyers expect to use more private, public, and hybrid clouds.

To download the study, click here.

AppSense Now A Microsoft Managed Partner

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AppSense, provider of user virtualization technology, has been elevated to a Managed Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Partner status by Microsoft. The company was previously a High Potential Partner since 2009.

As a Managed ISV Partner, AppSense will work closely with Microsoft to ensure its user virtualization platform enhances and extends the enterprise user management capabilities of Microsoft System Center, Windows Server and Windows Client.

Less than five percent of Microsoft ISV partners achieve Managed ISV Partner status, a category reserved for high-growth companies with significant joint revenue potential.

AppSense recently received a $70 million investment from Goldman Sachs for market expansion and new product development. Currently staffed with 300 employees, the company anticipates adding 150 new staff in 2011.

Wyse Starts Shipping Management Software For Cloud Client Computing Environments

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Wyse has begun shipping its self-configuring client technology for the cloud and Wyse-enhanced Microsoft Windows Embedded virtual desktop environments. The solution is called Wyse Configuration Manager (WCM), previewed earlier this year as Wyse “Project Pyramid.”

With the introduction of WCM, Wyse offers automatic client management across all of its operating systems (Wyse Zero, Wyse ThinOS, Linux, and Windows Embedded).

Wyse Configuration Manager allows IT departments to auto-configure thin clients based on Wyse-enhanced Windows Embedded Standard 7. By automating the deployment of Windows Embedded Standard 7 thin clients throughout a private cloud, WCM offers multiple benefits to organizations.

With WCM, client devices are updated to the latest configuration automatically on startup or user logon. IT determines the desired configuration, and WCM automatically does the rest, with no imaging or re-booting required. WCM works with Microsoft write-filter technology, so it’s secure. Users can be stationary, mobile, office or home-based.

Wyse Configuration Manager 1.0 is available immediately and is free to all Wyse customers that are currently using Windows Embedded Standard 7.

WCM for Windows Embedded Standard 2009 will be available later this year.

NComputing vSpace Now Plays Nice With Windows Multipoint Server 2011

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Desktop virtualization company NComputing has announced technology integration between its vSpace virtualization software and desktop devices, and Microsoft’s Windows Multipoint Server (WMS) 2011 multiuser operating system.

As a Microsoft Gold Partner, NComputing collaborated on early product testing, tuning and validation to ensure the best user experience possible.

Microsoft WMS 2011 brings Windows 7 to every student and productivity worker and powerful tools for administrators to simplify user setup and management, while NComputing reduces the cost of computing by allowing multiple people to simultaneously share a single computer.

NComputing offers support of Microsoft WMS 2011 in desktop virtualization environments including USB, PCI and Ethernet. As well as its L-Series (Ethernet), X-Series (PCI) and U-Series (USB) desktop virtualization devices, NComputing vertical market ‘In A Box’ solutions including Classroom In a Box for education markets and Office In A Box for SMB markets will support Microsoft WMS 2011.

NComputing says it has deployed 2.6 million virtual desktops in 140 countries.

Virtual Machines in a Browser ?

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Yes we can …

When us mere mortals want to learn about a new computer language, or a new platform, we start out with the “Hello World”-variant and then try to dig in deeper…

Some people however when they want to study Javascript, raise the bar by writing optimized code for different Javascript Engines. Sharpening their skill set further by developing a JavaScript PC Emulator… That’s right, Fabrice Bellard of FFMpeg, tinycc, and Qemu fame has recently published a link to his JavaScript PC Emulator written in pure JavaScript and working in recent Firefox 4 and Google Chrome 11 browsers on different platforms.

Fabrice got his inspiration from the x86 dynamic translator code that is present in Qemu and he emulates a 32bit x86 cpu which is pretty close to a 486 without FPU.

More details on the actual emulator can be found on his web page.

Watch that space. For all you know, we’re going to be hooked on old school PC games in our browsers in the very near future…

VMware Unveils Horizon App Manager: Easy Cloud Application Management For $30 Per User / Year

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VMware this morning announced VMware Horizon App Manager, a user-centric management service for accessing cloud applications.

VMware Horizon App Manager represents the first component of the company’s “Project Horizon” vision first previewed at VMworld 2010.

A datasheet (PDF) is available here.

The company says future releases of VMware Horizon will broker user access to a variety of application types, virtual Windows desktops and data resources, while delivering the security and control required by businesses. The result should be a simple, seamless user experience when accessing work resources across the private and public cloud on whatever device the user chooses.

At its core, VMware Horizon App Manager includes an identity as a service hub that extends a user’s existing identity in systems such as Microsoft Active Directory or other directory options, into third-party public cloud applications like Box.net, BroadVision, Google, Salesforce.com, WebEx, Workday and others.

This simplifies the management of multiple access credentials, a necessity brought about by the growing number of cloud applications now found in a typical enterprise.

In addition, the VMware Horizon App Manager provides an open, user-centric platform for accessing cloud applications within a single application portal that is accessible from a wide range of end-user devices.

Additional VMware Horizon App Manager features include:

– Multi-Platform/Multi-Device Support
– Enterprise Directory Federation/Cloud Identity Hub
– Standards Based Secure Authentication
– Application Provisioning
– Roles-Based Access and Reporting

Available today to select early access customers in North America and Asia Pacific Region, and via trials in other regions, VMware Horizon App Manager is $30.00 per user/per year.

Check out Robert Scoble’s interview with VMware lead for Project Horizon Noah Wasmer.

Update: Chris Hoff’s take: VMware’s Horizon App Manager – A Big Bet That Will Pay Off…