Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is one of the most anticipated and talked about technologies in the past decade. The promise of a desktop with applications that you can connect to from anywhere, on any device, is very exciting for users of all types. The potential security of centralized data captivates the imagination of CIOs and Security Officers in almost all business sectors.

Citrix Systems (CTXS) sees the VDI market as a potential goldmine and has bet much of its future on XenDesktop, a product that is well positioned to capture the VDI space. This post describes five tips for getting the most out of your XenDesktop 5.5 deployment.

XenApp 6.5 brings a host of features and benefits that most companies will need as the technology continues to evolve and user requirements continue to expand.

The virtualization market is made up of a few dominant, long-standing players and, due to increased adoption, a constant stream of smaller niche companies. VMware is the recognized leader due to both its server virtualization dominance with its commercial product, vSphere, as well as its desktop-level virtualization tools.

Citrix and Microsoft represent two other major virtualization players. Although VMware controls a majority of the market, Citrix and Microsoft continue to gain in market share. Citrix has made strides in application and desktop virtualization using its Xen product. In the case of Microsoft, the company has recognized the importance of virtualization and gradually produced a number of diverse resources, even including virtualization tools in the latest version of Windows 7. In addition, Hyper-V, its non-Linux, hypervisor-based platform, remains one of the core functions of Windows Server 2008.

Virtualization fundamentally changed computing in a way that was unforeseen as recently as five years ago. Every area of the economy that utilizes computing has been impacted, from financial, telecom, and healthcare sectors to retail, manufacturing, media, and government. In addition to improving key data center processes, such as Business Continuity (BC) and High Availability (HA), virtualization provides companies with flexibility, cost savings, and disaster recovery options critical to their success.

As the economy tightens, more organizations demand IT certifications in addition to industry sector experience. In terms of hiring and promotions, managers view candidate accreditations as a significant factor in their decisions. The information technology field is extremely competitive: qualifications change constantly, new standards and tools are revised, and products continually evolve. In today’s job market, certain certifications are critical for advancement, but they come at a price. ‘Demanding,’ ‘intimidating,’ even ‘scary’ are just some of the descriptors commonly attributed to more challenging certification exams.