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Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solutions offer an alternative to increasing costs, maintenance and security concerns related to company-supplied PCs. VDI solutions can also increase infrastructure costs, introduce scaling challenges in large deployments, and reduce performance due to the inherent latency of wide area networks (WANs).

At the same time, F5 Networks’ Lori McVittie said in a recent DevCentral blog, the appeal of VDI remains the same: it improves flexibility, simplifies administration and boosts security.

“What has changed are ongoing price drops and a growing need to seamlessly manage an IT infrastructure that includes desktops running Windows, Mac laptops using Apple OS X and mobiles devices using iOS and Android,” said McVittie.

In many cases, notes McVittie, VDI streamlines data exchange and accessibility in an increasingly bring-your-own device IT world. F5’s BIG-IP application delivery control system aims to improve the performance of all networked applications.

And this week F5 extended its BIG-IP support to Citrix XenDesktop, VMware View and Microsoft Virtual Desktop. One key differentiator of the BIG-IP system, according to F5, is that it reduces the number or servers organizations need to support VDI applications.

The BIG-IP system includes customized settings to optimize each of the major VDI vendor’s remote desktop protocols so infrastructure doesn’t have to change.

In addition, BIG-IP products are “unique in that they integrate authentication, directory services, SSL offloading, and other services throughout the desktop infrastructure,” said Erik Giesa, SVP of Product Management and Product Marketing at F5 Networks.

“So organizations (and solution providers) can optimize virtual desktop delivery with fewer resources, while also supporting network and application access control for non-VDI enabled applications,” she said.

F5 application delivery controllers are vendor-agnostic. The company notes it will continue to support top-tier VDI vendors such as Microsoft, VMware and Citrix with devices that are knowledgeable in the network and application ecosystem. As the market changes and grows, F5 pledged to support the features and functionality most needed to optimize content delivery for major VDI vendors.

The last four quarters each delivered double-digit, year-over-year revenue growth for F5. Revenue grew by an average of 31.3 percent during the period, placing F5 in a competitive market position with rivals Cisco Systems, Blue Coat Systems (acquired in in Dec. 2011 by Thoma Bravo), Radware, and Riverbed Technology.

Over the last year F5 has also expanded channel initiatives to enable more partners – new and future – to sell and support its products in application delivery market, or appliances that speed the performance of applications and traffic in data centers and wide area networks.

The company has developed a broad library of sales and technical training content to provide solution providers with a deep understanding of F5’s WAN optimization, application firewall, Web acceleration and authentication services.

Some new BIG-IP benefits F5’s touting for VDI deployments include:

• Quality of services and support for Multi-Stream ICA, which is aimed at improving performance of latency-sensitive traffic such as VoIP.
• For Citrix XenDesktop deployments, BIG-IP v11.1 is designed to provide additional savings with its integrated web interface service, which eliminates the need for Citrix web interface servers and ticketing servers
• Inclusion of native iApps templates for VMware and Citrix XenDesktop. Integrated web interface service and support for Citrix Multi-Stream ICA.

Mark Bowker, senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, says VDI solutions have the potential to provide many benefits—especially as the mobile workforce continues to grow and users want access to mission critical applications from any device, anywhere.

“But VDI solutions must be implemented correctly in order to deliver cost savings, optimum security, and excellent performance required to preserve a consistent user experience,” he said.

Though Bowker adds a familiar stipulation to VDI traction and success, its march from niche to mainstream continues amid competition for a market Gartner predicts will grow from $1.5 billion in 2009 to $65.7 billion next year.