Quest, a technology management and consulting firm, recently entered into a partnership agreement with Desktone, Inc., a provider of Desktops as a Service (DaaS). According to the terms of the agreement, Desktone will provide DaaS platform and NetApp’s storage systems to enable Quest to deliver cloud-hosted virtual desktops.

In essence, the partnership allows Quest to leverage robust virtual desktops and server capabilities in a truly scalable cloud environment, ensuring desktop security, support, availability and performance on a number of end user devices.

“With the rise in workforce mobility, we’re seeing demand from our customers for technology solutions that support all types of devices, from smartphones and tablets to MacBooks and PCs,” Tim Burke, CEO of Quest, said in a statement “We evaluated traditional virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) vendors but realized they are missing many of the features required by service providers. With Desktone’s DaaS expertise and NetApp’s extensive storage technologies we’re able to quickly provide our customers with flexible, secure virtual desktops whenever and wherever they are needed.”

As a pioneer of the concept of Desktops as a Service, Desktone delivers virtual desktops in the cloud, allowing users to rapidly provision desktops to users on any device, anywhere, without the upfront costs and complexity of traditional desktop virtualization. On the other hand, Quest offers technology products and professional cloud and managed services which include security, wireless, data backup, disaster recovery, business continuity, system performance, telecommunications & transport, application development, VoIP, IP Video Surveillance (News - Alert) and technical staffing.

 “Windows 7 migrations, more remote workers and need for mobile support are putting increased management burdens on IT professionals,” Peter McKay, CEO of Desktone added. “Service providers are looking for a complete desktop ‘as a service’ solution for their customers and are finding that shared desktop technologies and traditional VDI can’t provide the flexibility, performance or ROI they require. These technologies, which were built for on-premise deployments, cannot be moved to a cloud service delivery model. We’re extremely pleased that such a prominent IT outsourcing provider chose Desktone to deliver DaaS.”

Rahul Arora is a TMCnet contributor. He has worked as an editor and freelance writer for several reputed organizations in India. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Jamie Epstein