Wyse Technology announced that its thin clients based on Microsoft Windows XP embedded, Wyse Thin OS and Linux will now ship with built-in support for VMware Virtual Desktop Manager 2, a component of VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Now, customers can more easily deploy and manage Wyse thin clients to leverage VMware VDI. This announcement highlights how Wyse continues to work closely with VMware, including Wyse's participation in the VMware Community Source program. Late last year, Wyse also announced that it was the first vendor to ship multimedia capabilities for thin clients running VMware VDI.

    This collaboration has resulted in Wyse software being selected for integration into VMware ESX Server, enabling thin clients to display rich multimedia content in a VMware VDI environment. VMware VDI streamlines desktop management, reduces operational costs and provides business continuity to offer enterprise-class performance, reliability, security, manageability and seamless integration in a single desktop virtualization solution. As part of VMware VDI, VMware Desktop Manager 2 allows users to securely connect to their virtual desktops in the data center and gives IT administrators an easy and cost-effective way to manage virtual desktops.

    VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is a thin computing model for providing end-users access to their familiar desktop using virtualization software from VMware. VMware VDI provides VMware Infrastructure 3, along with VMware Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM), a connection broker that manages user access to centralized virtual desktop environments. Combining Wyse thin clients with VMware Desktop Manager 2 enables IT personnel to more easily perform upgrades, patches and desktop maintenance, making thin clients become a more viable option to PCs. In addition, Wyse is also offering users "first day support" to more quickly get users up and running.

    "This announcement helps accelerate the shift away from desktop PCs to green, efficient and more flexible thin clients in a virtualized desktop environment," stated Ricardo Antuna, Vice President of Business Development for Wyse Technology.

    The VDI solution is used for desktop consolidation to the datacenter while using ultra-small, completely secure thin clients on the end-user desk, linking them to their respective virtual desktops in the datacenter. With desktop environments consolidated within the data center, organizations can deliver secure, isolated desktops that are always on. Each thin client is centrally managed and accessible from anywhere on the network.

    "By offering thin clients with built-in support for VMware Virtual Desktop Manager, users get a 'plug and play' desktop virtualization solution right out of the box," noted Jeff Jennings, Vice President of Desktop Products and Solutions at VMware. "This type of collaboration makes Wyse a leader in the thin client market."

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