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VMware Further Simplifies IT Support for the Mobile Workforce With New Capabilities and Partnerships for VMware Horizon(TM) Suite

Desktop-as-a-Service, Cutting-Edge Smartphones From Leading OEMs, and Enhancements to Horizon Suite Extend Data, Applications and Desktops to Mobile Enterprise Users

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Aug 27, 2013) - Today at VMworld® 2013, VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), the global leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure, unveiled new capabilities and partnerships that further simplify IT's ability to support the growing mobile workforce. The combination of new desktop-as-a service, VMware Ready™ smartphones, a growing community of desktop and mobile partners, and integrated device and workspace management reinforces VMware Horizon™ Suite as one of the industry's most comprehensive and integrated platform to enable an increasingly mobile workforce.

"VMware Horizon™ Suite offers a cost-effective and secure transition to the mobile-cloud era for organizations struggling to modernize their infrastructure," said Sanjay Poonen, executive vice president and general manager, End-User Computing, VMware. "VMware is the only company that offers a comprehensive end-user computing platform with highly integrated management capabilities to make managing disparate users, devices and operating systems simple and effective."

Reduce Cost, Increase Mobility with Desktop-as-a-Service
Enabling the mobile workforce requires more than supporting the latest mobile devices, as end users still need powerful computing for content creation, legacy applications and business operations. Modernizing traditional PCs with virtual desktops enables IT administrators to grant end users greater mobility and access to corporate data, applications and desktops without compromising security or control.

New desktop-as-a-service deployment option for VMware Horizon View™ will offer organizations that lack VDI expertise an easy transition to virtual desktops.

  • New VMware Horizon View Desktop-as-a-Service on VMware vCloud® Hybrid Service™ - By the end of the year, organizations of all sizes will have the ability to deploy Horizon View using VMware vCloud Hybrid Service. This deployment option gives IT a common platform to seamlessly extend desktops and the data center to the cloud leveraging the same tools and processes. This new capability gives organizations the choice to deploy desktop-as-a-service on vCloud Hybrid Service themselves or through a managed service provider.
  • New VMware Horizon View Desktop-as-a-Service Available Today Through vCloud Partners - Horizon View Desktop-as-a-Service is available immediately as an offering through vCloud Partners. Customers will now have the option of offering employees greater mobility and accessibility by deploying desktops from the cloud and can choose from a wide range of global service providers to meet any use case or business need.

Enterprise Mobile Management Made Easy
By the end of 2013, it is estimated that there will be 1.4 billion smartphones in the world with 57 percent or 798 million units running on Android, according to a study by ABI Research1. With a diverse set of models customized by every major manufacturer using a variety of Android operating systems, managing authorized or unauthorized mobile devices is a major challenge for corporate IT.

Today, VMware unveiled new capabilities and products that will help simplify enterprise mobile management for IT administrators.

  • New VMware Ready™ Smartphones - Support for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives require support for the latest smartphones available to consumers for IT administrators to have the visibility, control and security they desire. The list of smartphones supporting Horizon Workspace now includes the recently launched LG G2 that will be on all major US carriers, Motorola DROID family of smartphones (DROID Mini, DROID Ultra and DROID Maxx) as well as HTC One® through Verizon Wireless. This adds to the expanding line-up of VMware Ready devices already in-market that includes the LG Intuition, Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4, Droid Razr HD and Razr M by Motorola.
  • New Mobile Partners - Sony and HTC join the growing community of mobile partners who will introduce devices that are attractive to consumers and manageable by corporate IT using the dual persona capability found in Horizon Workspace™. Sony is expected to introduce new VMware Ready smartphones this year.
  • Horizon Workspace 1.5: Highly Integrated Mobile Management Solution - Adding to the single, aggregated workspace that combines data, applications and desktops, the solution now offers a single integrated management interface to support Android devices alongside all other components of the workspace with the integration of VMware Horizon Mobile™. Support for mobile applications to enable administrators to entitle and manage applications, a new policy management engine to consolidate, model, and rationalize policies across all components, and support for the Oracle database are among some of the enhancements found in this latest release.

"Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) selected Horizon Workspace as a collaborative tool to help us attain our college goals of providing a fully accessible (anyplace, anytime, anywhere, any device) digital learning environment for our 40,000 students," said Linda Hartford, chief information officer, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. "NWTC will use Horizon Workspace as a catalyst for technology to create easy access to the learning environment."

"VMware is providing an integrated portfolio that is priced to move the entire suite, rather than single point products," said Brett Waldman, research manager, IDC. "Additionally, the new emphasis on the mobile user and cloud is really opening up opportunities for the End-User Computing group."

Availability
VMware Horizon View desktop-as-a-service running on VMware vCloud Hybrid Service will be available by the end of the year.

The stand-alone offering of VMware Horizon View desktop-as-a-service is available immediately through VMware vCloud partners. For more information, visit the VMware vCloud partner website.

For more information about VMware Horizon Workspace 1.5 or VMware Horizon Suite, visit the Horizon Suite product page.

Additional Resources

  • Read the VMware Company Blog for the latest company news
  • Read the blog post by Sanjay Poonen, executive vice president and general manager, End-User Computing, VMware
  • Read the blog post by Scott Davis, chief technology officer, End-User Computing, VMware
  • Read the blog post by Erik Frieberg, vice president, product marketing, End-User Computing, VMware
  • Follow the VMware End-User Computing team on Twitter and Facebook

About VMware
VMware (NYSE: VMW) is the leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions that enable businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. Customers rely on VMware to help them transform the way they build, deliver and consume Information Technology resources in a manner that is evolutionary and based on their specific needs. With 2012 revenues of $4.61 billion, VMware has more than 500,000 customers and 55,000 partners. The company is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the world and can be found online at www.vmware.com.

VMware, VMworld, vCloud, vCloud Hybrid Service, Horizon Mobile, Horizon Suite, Horizon Workspace, Horizon View and VMware Ready are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective organizations. The use of the word "partner" or "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership relationship between VMware and any other company.

1 ABI Research, "45 Million Windows Phone and 20 Million BlackBerry 10 Smartphones in Active Use at Year-end; Enough to Keep Developers Interested," January 31, 2013.

Contact Information:

Contacts:
Louis Cheng
VMware Global Communications
chengl@vmware.com
(650) 427-7643

Angela Nibbs
Hill and Knowlton Strategies
angela.nibbs@hkstrategies.com
(415) 281-7120