However, I think the discussion must move beyond addressing a problem created by non-persistent VMs. User virtualization might be a good solution for that specific problem, but is this really all that ‘user virtualization’ is about? I see user virtualization as a much broader concept: On the IT side, it is one which extends universally to desktop management, data protection, and user support. From a user perspective, the term should encompass desktop availability, ubiquitous data access, mobility, and consistent desktop experience. The reality is that most organizations will retain a mix of both physical and virtual desktops, so user virtualization must go beyond the VM user and extend to end-users in general, regardless of where their desktop resides.

Furthermore, in the case of persistent VMs and physical machines such as laptops, it is very common to have a 1:1 relationship between a user and the machine. In this case, user virtualization must be able to handle user personalization, while still allowing IT to manage the machine image without losing customizations and to port or migrate the entire user environment across different machines as needed. A common example would be a PC refresh cycle where the user may move across different laptops or get moved all the way to a hosted VM. A good user virtualization solution should support this portability without affecting personalization elements: the OS, apps the user has installed and configured on the original machine, as well as preferences and data. Many of these elements fall outside the standard user profile boundaries, and this is where intelligence becomes a requirement.

So I picked up one of the freeware tools and ran it on my work laptop (yes, sleep deprivation probably had something to do with the questionable logic of this decision). I ran the tool to create the most damage possible — letting it delete over 600 different registry keys ranging from file type associations to ActiveX and COM classes it deemed unusable. The system was still up after that, but many applications had serious issues: some crashed, some gave errors, and some simply wouldn’t launch at all. Internet Explorer had problems opening pages, and Flash froze often.

If I had to call a helpdesk to try to fix these problems, it could take hours or days to troubleshoot the issues. However, all our systems are Wanova Mirage-managed, so I put on my ‘Admin’ hat. With a few mouse clicks on the Mirage Management Console, I initiated an ‘Enforce Base Image’ command. A few minutes later, I was able to reboot my PC back to its fully functional state, without losing any of my data or user installed applications. And all this was accomplished via a Mirage server that was thousands of miles away from my crippled laptop.

Mirage’s image management, combined with its unique desktop streaming capabilities over the WAN, solved hundreds of issues in minutes.  I didn’t have to touch anything on the laptop and didn’t spend any time troubleshooting. Think about the number of hours helpdesk employees spend trying (often unsuccessfully) to troubleshoot PC problems. How much could your organization stand to benefit by reducing helpdesk costs, improving support SLAs, and keeping end users productive?