The virtualization industry continues to expand at a rapid pace. As many companies try to break into this industry, MokaFive has already done so, offering a client-side desktop virtualization model which can provide organizations that are transitioning to the cloud and considering VDI from companies like Citrix with huge cost and hardware savings.

I recently had the chance to speak with Purnima Padmanabhan, vice president of products and marketing at MokaFive about the company’s product, the differences between server-based VDI and MokaFive client-based virtual desktop management and where Padmanabhan sees the virtualization industry headed in the future.

“Mokafive was founded around 5 years ago by Computer Science Professor Monica Lam and 3 PhD students. They had hit upon a fantastic idea with the goal of fundamentally transforming computing in a way that is very easy to secure and manage from a business and IT perspective but yet frees the user to be productive where they want, when they want, and on whatever device they want. Monica and the students worked very closely with the founder of VMware and that was when they came across the idea of completely separating the desktop from the hardware and creating a virtual desktop. Essentially sending it back down to the endpoint where it can run locally and still be secure and encrypted, where it can run on either a PC or Mac, online or offline. So you get the best of both worlds, a virtual desktop that is easily managed, yet is locally executed so you don’t have to create a huge server infrastructure on the backend. That was idea which eventually became MokaFive,” Padmanabhan said.

Padmanabhan added, “The product we ship today is called MokaFive Suite and it is an end to end desktop management solution and what it allows you to do is create the central ‘golden image’ for your environment. As most organizations have Windows 7 now, you create your ‘golden Windows 7 environment’ and then simply from a single console you can target your users, wherever they are, even if users are running from their personal machine or their home. Simply target that image and it can run on top of their personal computer without disrupting their personal space and also without any security problems. About a month ago, we announced a new product where the ‘golden image’ can be dropped directly onto the hardware so that every bit on top of the hardware is managed. The transformation from the IT perspective is with consumerization and all of these devices coming into the enterprise at a quick pace. Formerly IT was running around trying to manage Macs, PCs, desktop, laptops, personal machines, and corporate machines but now all they have to say is ‘I really don’t care about the particular device type, but what I care about is the Windows environment.’ Then that is going to be captured in the virtual desktop and with a single click of the button can be given to any users anywhere.”

“There is a big fundamental difference between server-based VDI and MokaFive client-based virtual desktop management. Now you are saying look you don’t need desktops and you don’t need laptops, just take the desktop and put it in a server and datacenter- that is what server-based VDI does. What we said is, instead of going back in time, how about we take the best of both worlds. Imagine if we could manage a server centrally but execute that image locally at the endpoint. The big difference is we define image VDI similar to a virtual desktop image or server-based computing, but instead of dropping it on a server in a datacenter, we send it back down to the desktop or laptop executing locally. The benefits of this are huge and there are two very important ones. First,  you don’t have to create a huge backup server, as all you need for 5,000 users is one server This greatly reduces cost, around  90 percent reduced expense in terms of capex. Second, as a consumer, I am not always tethered. What happens if the network connection is not there in a server-based model? My connection is then dead when traveling on plane or at an airport with no connection. However, with MokaFive’s model since it is executing locally, you simply shut your laptop and walk off. Then you open it whether you are connected or not and have access to the full virtual desktop right there. A big advantage of this is online/offline execution as this offers a high degree of flexibility and freedom to the user,” Padmanabhan stated.

Padmanabhan said, “Our biggest use case right now is around the consumerization of IT. A lot of customers, for example a law firm based in the silicon valley had lawyers coming in and asking for Macs, but 90 percent of their programs ran on windows, so Macs were a problem. They introduced MokaFive across the board and simply created a single ‘golden image’ off the Windows 7 environment and told employees they had a choice of either choosing a Mac, PC or something else. The device no longer matters.”

I asked Padmanabhan what, in her opinion, are the most crucial benefits offered by MokaFive’s client-side desktop virtualization model, and she stated, “The best way to quantify benefits is to look at what people are doing today and say why is it better than before? With MokaFive, if you have a ‘golden image’, you can easily manage all devices right from the central desktop and can ensure it is fully safe and secure. MokaFive can you give customers at least a 45 percent reduction in total cost of ownership, when compared to traditional methods. Another big benefit of the product is the flexibility that it gives businesses to be agile. The company can tell employees they can bring own device, as the flexibility provides for a diverse user population and diverse users. In addition, risk is also greatly reduced because with the MokaFive model, corporate stuff is fully encrypted within the MokaFive corporate bubble. Thus, everything is always secure and users can walk away with a single laptop that can be used for both personal and work related matters, but they remain completely isolated. This leads to a 60 percent reduction in help desk calls.”

When asked where she sees the future of virtualization headed, Padmanabhan concluded, “Virtualization as a core platform is here to stay and virtualization as an end solution will eventually go away. Every OS has to be by definition virtualized. Within the server world, all servers all already virtualized and I think the same thing will happen to desktops. These desktops will then become a platform technology which can be used for more flexibility and abstraction from things that are non-core. Enterprises will no longer need to worry about non- core things like infrastructure and hardware and by having a fully managed virtual desktop, it will allow enterprises to focus on what is important including intellectual property, assets and productivity for employee. That’s the value of virtualization.”

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