SAN FRANCISCO — VMworld 2014 — Unisys Corporation today expanded its portfolio of Unisys Workspace Services – a comprehensive range of advisory and cloud-based services for desktop virtualization – with a new solution designed to help IT organizations reduce costs and increase flexibility in providing their workers with cloud-based access to the full suite of business applications and services that they need to stay productive.
Combining Unisys services and technology and the VMware Horizon® architecture, the new Unisys Desktop as a Service solution enables CIOs to reduce capital expenses by eliminating the need to buy and maintain costly desktop infrastructure and software licenses.
Instead, IT organizations can purchase resources based on a set price for each virtual desktop from a cloud-based catalog that includes hosted applications and all the support services typically available for traditional desktops. End users can use this catalog to build a personalized virtual desktop, tailored to their job profile, that they can securely access anytime, anywhere, from any device – tablets, smartphones, laptops, PCs and thin clients. IT staff can use the catalog to access Unisys managed services to maintain and monitor the virtual desktop.
Depending on a client’s specific requirements, Unisys Desktop as a Service can be hosted and managed in a VMware or Unisys data center, or on-premises at a client site.
“Providing your employees with the latest, most powerful desktop resources doesn’t have to be a break-the-bank exercise any longer,” said Larry Dunn, vice president, solution portfolio management, Unisys Enterprise Services. “Our Unisys Desktop as a Service offering combines the efficiency of the cloud with a full range of IT managed services and end-user support services to provide organizations with a more flexible, cost-efficient way to keep their workers productive and informed in their jobs.”
Services included in the Unisys Desktop as a Service solution are development and maintenance of virtual desktop images and patching and monitoring of virtual desktop instances. Unisys coordinates with the client’s service desk organization to provide support for users of those services. Encryption of stored data – also known as data at rest – and anti-malware services are available as options for enhanced security.
All capabilities and services of the Unisys Desktop as a Service solution are available to IT staff and end users through an integrated version of the VantagePoint™ by Unisys solution, which aggregates business and IT services from multiple sources around the enterprise. VantagePoint by Unisys can provide a unified view of endpoint resources, giving users a simplified way to obtain support, information and services for their entire workspace – not only their virtual desktop, but also traditional desktop and mobile-device environments.
Unisys has built the Unisys Desktop as a Service solution to the U.S. government Federal Risk Authorization and Management Program (FedRAMP) security standard for cloud-based products and services. The company is in the process of seeking FedRAMP certification for key North American data centers.
“The comprehensive managed services, global end-user support and enhanced security Unisys provides in the Unisys Desktop as a Service solution complement our desktop virtualization technology,” said Erik Frieberg, vice president of product marketing, End-User Computing, VMware. “The Unisys solution affords VMware Horizon clients a cost-effective way to create and manage an infrastructure that gives end users easy access to a standardized but flexible set of software resources.”
Unisys Desktop as a Service clients can also take advantage of optional Unisys assessment, migration, transformation and mobile environment management services, which complement the Unisys managed services and end-user support services for the cloud-based solution.
The Unisys Desktop as a Service solution is scheduled for general availability in the fourth quarter of 2014.
For more information, visit Unisys at VMworld® 2014 booth 213.
About Unisys
Unisys is a global information technology company that solves complex IT challenges at the intersection of modern and mission critical. They work with many of the world’s largest companies and government organizations to secure and keep their mission-critical operations running at peak performance; streamline and transform their data centers; enhance support to their end users and constituents; and modernize their enterprise applications. They do this while protecting and building on their legacy IT investments. Their offerings include outsourcing and managed services, systems integration and consulting services, high-end server technology, cyber security and cloud management software, and maintenance and support services. Unisys has more than 23,000 employees serving clients around the world. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.
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