The ClearCube spin-off VDIwork announced an upcoming extension of its connection broker that promises to introduce the much wanted offline VDI (sometimes dubbed mobile VDI) capability.
Expected for the end of this quarter, VDIwork2Go will allow the mobile workforce to check-out the hosted virtual desktop, run a local copy on the laptop of choice (through VMware Player) and leave the network.
Once the user checks-in again, the changes made inside the local VM will be synchronized back to the virtual desktop infrastructure.
The VDI approach is certainly something that many customers are evaluating these days but the implementation still implies some major challenges. This is one of them and many vendors are working to solve it so to boost the confidence in the solution.
VMware is working to offer offline VDI as well: the company previewed the technology for the first time at VMworld Europe 2008 in February, and then formally announced it as a feature of the upcoming VMware View.