VMware Launches Horizon 6

With a variety of laptops, tablets, smartphones and an array of other employee-owned devices putting pressure on IT departments, VMware (VMW) comes to the rescue with the release of VMware Horizon 6, an integrated solution that delivers published applications and desktops on a single platform.

The new release is a comprehensive desktop solution with centralized management of any type of enterprise application and desktop, including physical desktops and laptops, virtual desktops and applications and employee-owned PCs.

"Customers want to transform their applications and enterprise desktops for the "Mobile Cloud Era" -- extending access to employees on any device, from anywhere via a comprehensive solution that is simple, secure and cost effective," said Sumit Dhawan, vice president and general manager, Desktop Products, End-User Computing, VMware. "VMware Horizon 6 addresses these issues and delivers amazing new capabilities to our customers at nearly the same cost as a traditional, physical desktop."

Horizon 6 enables entire desktops --or just applications --to be delivered in a flexible manner to end-users. It allows access virtually from multiple devices and locations, physically by syncing the entire desktop image to end user laptops, and securely by delivering applications and content in a managed secure container. New in version 6, Horizon offers streamlined management, end-user entitlement, and quick delivery of published Windows applications, RDS-based desktops and virtual desktops across devices and locations. End-users can access all applications and desktops from a single unified workspace, which supports the delivery of virtualized applications hosted in the datacenter or local on the device.

VMware Horizon 6 is optimized for the Software-Defined Data Center. The solution provides integrated management of VMware Virtual SAN that can significantly reduce the cost of storage for virtual desktops by using local storage. With this innovation, the capital cost of virtual desktops with Horizon 6 can be similar to physical desktops. The new VMware vCenter Operations for View provides health and risk monitoring, proactive end-user experience monitoring and deep diagnostics from datacenter-to-device all within a single console.  Using the updated VMware Mirage, IT administrators can design a single desktop with the required operating system and applications, and deliver it to end-users in a department or entire organization based on end-user needs.

VMware Horizon 6 introduces a new client that seamlessly connects to virtual desktops and applications running in an on-premise cloud, a service provider partner cloud, or through VMware vCloud Hybrid Service with the same, high performance end-user experience. This flexibility gives customers the ability to deploy Horizon 6 via the hybrid cloud -- balancing between business-owned and public cloud-based infrastructure to best satisfy their needs.

"Governance and compliance can only work if end-users stay within the confines of IT, but end-users are savvy with more options than ever before to work outside the purview of IT," said Brett Waldman, research manager, End-User Computing, IDC. "If IT can provide the resources, capabilities and support end-users need, they will be less likely to stray, so IT needs vendors, such as VMware, to provide simpler, more agile solutions. With VMware Horizon 6's new ability to deliver published applications in addition to virtual desktops, IT can deliver just what end-users need, or more importantly want."