Quest Software Delivers Major Update To Virtual Desktop Management Platform

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Dec. 21, 2009  Quest Software, Inc. today announced the availability of the newest version of Quest vWorkspace, an award-winning desktop virtualization solution for simplifying the provisioning, management and use of virtual desktops. In addition to its support of the VMware platform, vWorkspace also now supports VMware Linked Clones, which reduce shared storage disk space requirements. Other new features enhance the end-user experience and expand desktop platform choices. vWorkspace manages, provisions and brokers connections, transforming the desktop infrastructure into an on-demand service with optimized user experience for LAN and WAN.

"Concerns about return on investment and total cost of ownership savings remain key barriers to desktop virtualization adoption among many organizations," said Chris Wolf, senior analyst with Burton Group. "Significant costs savings in supporting a virtual desktop environment can be realized by leveraging tools that reduce TCO by centralizing desktop image management and incorporating self-service, while maintaining the experience users expect from their desktops. Hypervisor agnostic virtual desktop management solutions may further drive down capital expenses by allowing the IT organization to aggressively negotiate with competing hypervisor vendors on the cost of back end virtual infrastructure."

Simon Pearce, division vice president and general manager of the Desktop Virtualization Group at Quest, said, "Quest continues to give customers the flexibility and advanced features they need to build the virtual desktop solution that best suits their business requirements. Regardless of their platform choices or user types, customers can simplify their virtual desktop infrastructure with Quest, while significantly enhancing manageability and lowering infrastructure and storage costs. Quest vWorkspace delivers the building blocks customers need to simplify the provisioning, management and use of virtual desktops."

New features in vWorkspace optimize the end-user experience and drive down the cost of delivering desktops. They also reduce the impact on backend resources, including storage. Key new features include:

- Flash multimedia acceleration: Now speeds flash media embedded in Internet Explorer for enhanced user experience by redirecting the flash content to play quickly and seamlessly on the desktop system.

- Support for VMware Linked Clones: Adds support for VMware Linked Clone technology for rapid provisioning of virtual desktops from a master image under the automation and control of vWorkspace. This "single image management" technology dramatically reduces the storage space required for virtual desktops.

- Extended platform support: Extends its platform-agnostic approach by offering new support for Windows 7; Windows 2008 and 2008 R2; Windows Vista; System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2; and Parallels Virtuozzo Containers (x86 and x64).