Back in mid-2009, The VAR Guy’s blog team openly wondered if 2010 would be the year of desktop virtualization. Perhaps that’s hyping VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) a bit. But the momentum continues: Unidesk, which develops virtual desktop management software, has raised $12 million in Series B venture capital funding. Here’s some analysis.
Unidesk claims to offer a “hypervisor-independent platform for desktop virtualization.” Tim Barrows, the manging partner behind Matrix Partners (one of the venture capitalists who backed Unidesk) thinks that Unidesk is the only company that’s going to make desktop virtualization, fast, easy and cheap, while being virtually invisible to the end-user. Hence, the large investment.
Still, let’s keep things in perspective. Dozens of companies — everyone from Citrix Systems to Red Hat — are pursuing desktop virtualization.
Loud But Silent
One the one hand, Unidesk wants to talk up its $12 million war chest. But what exactly does Unidesk have to show for all that cash? Apparently, a predisposition towards being elusive while talking themselves up big. Their site proclaims…
“Details about Unidesk’s virtual desktop management product family are currently restricted to Beta customers.”
Even so, some details are emerging. Unidesk claims their solution will offer all the capabilities needed to make a VMware, Citrix, Microsoft and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure totally usable for end users and easily manageable for IT staff. All of this comes at a reduction in storage space and cheaper cost than a traditional desktop setup. More bold claims.
Michael Skok, general partner, North Bridge Venture Partners says that “We believe Unidesk is a game-changing software company.” Lets hope so — $12 million is a lot of cash. Unidesk plans to put the investment money towards and eventual profitable long term business model.
In the meantime, Unidesk will be a new addition to my Google Alerts…. we’ll be watching to see if the company directs some of that money toward a channel partner program.
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Hi – Don Bulens, CEO of Unidesk, here.
Thanks for for your optimism about the market potential for desktop virtualization. Not certain if 2010 will be the breakout year for desktop virtualization, but it’s certainly high on the list of planning priorities for many IT organizations – with the financial services industry, in particular, leading the way. So we’ll surely see lots of pilot and POC projects kicked off, along with some highly promoted enterprise deployments, but I think it’ll take until next year and beyond for broader-based production rollouts. Windows 7 adoption could certainly fuel adoption.
We’re most encouraged at Unidesk by the depth of investment in developing desktop virtualization practices we’re seeing in the channel. As was the case for server virtualization and prior generations of new technology, the value-added channel is leading the way in skills and knowledge and is helping customers make well-informed decisions. My own decision to join Unidesk was greatly influenced by several solution providers whose firms were instrumental in driving the wave of adoption of VMware (many selling EqualLogic in parallel) and who are now viewed as thought leaders in desktop virtualization. Interestingly, many are also Citrix Platinum partners.
To answer one of your questions, Unidesk will indeed be using some of our investment to develop our 100% channel-based business model. The value-added channel will play a pivotal role in driving the adoption of desktop virtualization and we hope to earn the trust and advocacy of VAR and consulting firms who are making a big bet on that market. I’ve seen the power of the channel drive the success of Lotus Notes and EqualLogic (with a still remarkably vibrant channel as part of Dell) and hope we can gain the same support and momentum for Unidesk.
Thanks, and see you in the channel!
Don: Thanks for the deeper details. The VAR Guy’s team will be watching as you develop your business, technology and channel strategies.
-TVG