Reduce Data Security Risks and Costs with IBM Virtualization Infrastructure Access Service

The Cost of Complexity
Today's IT environment has brought new meaning to the word complexity. Whether it is the telecommuter working from home, an engineer using a high-powered desktop running three-dimensional graphics application in the office, or a warehouse worker using a handheld scanner to capture barcodes on boxes scheduled for shipment, workers expect—and are expected—to be able to access the networks, databases, and multiple applications necessary to do their jobs anytime, anywhere.

These expectations have created new costs, new challenges, and new worries for business leaders and IT administrators that they never dreamed of until very recently.

For one thing, the typical worker rarely requires the full processing horsepower in his or desktop computer. Most of the time, that costly processing capacity sits idle, consuming electricity. Add to this the multiple computing devices many workers require in their official places of business, as well as when they're mobile. Not only does this result in redundant and idle processing power, but the administrative costs of supporting both the huge networks of desktops in offices and the mobile workforce are mounting.

More Mobility Leads to Lack of Security
Dwarfing these concerns is the all-too-real danger of the lost or stolen laptop, USB stick, or CD. While most organizations' laptops are ostensibly protected by layers of security and encryption, the truth is that too few employees take the proper precautions to protect sensitive files in case of theft or loss. In January of this year, the German security software firm Utimaco Safeware surveyed more than 1,000 workers worldwide (link resides outside of ibm.com) about their data security habits.

The findings should give business leaders and IT heads pause. More than 82% of respondents said they regarded protection of their memory media as very important, and most said that they use multiple forms of storage, with USB sticks cited most frequently by the majority of respondents, followed by memory cards. Yet, the respondents indicated that they utilize complete encryption in only about one in five of the storage media they use. Finally, one in four persons surveyed admitted to having lost, on average, two to three memory media. Headlines about lost laptops and security breaches of databases bear out the seriousness of this problem.

IBM'S Answer: Centralized Computing and Secure Access
Despite the conflicting pressures, there is a solution to problems of cost, complexity, and security resulting from the demands placed on today's IT systems. That solution is the IBM Virtual Infrastructure Access Service. Introduced in the fall of 2006, Virtual Infrastructure Access is a service product that helps businesses utilize virtualization technologies to simplify computing in the workplace and to provide end users with reliable, secure access to the applications and data they need anytime, anywhere.

"IBM Virtual Infrastructure Access Service offers a significant opportunity for a radical metamorphosis of today's PC- and laptop-centric IT environment by finally making the deployment of thin client devices a viable, robust alternative for organizations of all sizes, whether for mobile computing or in a traditional office setting."

Today's explosion in end-user technology poses many challenges for businesses, including device proliferation, support for a dispersed workforce, backup and recovery of distributed data, IT environment complexity, increasing support costs, and increased security risks. The need to support new end user technology places strain on IT managers needing to support complex systems and ever-increasing employee IT needs.

IBM Virtual Infrastructure Access Service offers a significant opportunity for a radical metamorphosis of today's PC- and laptop-centric IT environment by finally making the deployment of thin client devices a viable, robust alternative for organizations of all sizes, whether for mobile computing or in a traditional office setting. The thin client device can take many shapes, but essentially all that Virtual Infrastructure Access requires is that the thin client device has a Java-enabled browser and be able to connect to the Internet. No hard disk drive is required. No expensive suite of applications is necessary.

What Virtual Infrastructure Access accomplishes is to sever the remote terminal or device from the centralized applications and storage. This separation offers important benefits to both the worker and the employer. First, employers can give employees what are essentially terminals instead of PCs, laptops, or notebooks. Yet, the worker loses none of the memory and processing capability that he or she has come to expect from a laptop or PC. Moreover, support costs are diminished dramatically because applications, storage, network management, and virtualization are all managed centrally at the data center. Finally, security concerns over lost devices suddenly vanish because all sensitive files reside in the data center, not in the mobile thin client device. If a device is lost, stolen, or broken, no valuable data is lost. All the worker needs is a new thin device, which is far cheaper than replacing a lost laptop.

Protected Data and Familiar Functionality
To the end user, virtualization still gives him the familiar look, feel, and functionality of a PC. However, not only is the typical thin client device smaller and easier to carry than a laptop or notebook, but thanks to virtualization, the thin device sacrifices none of the performance or capability.

As you might expect, thin client devices cost a fraction of the cost of a desktop or laptop. A typical thin client device running Linux can be purchased today for about $140. Not surprisingly, sales of thin client devices grew 30% last year as various businesses such as bank branches, engineering firms, and call centers increasingly turn to thin client devices and IBM Virtual Infrastructure Access Service.

Building on IBM's four decades of virtualization product experience and a proven global factory model for delivering and managing the service, IBM's Virtual Infrastructure Access Service product empowers employees by creating a level of independence between the device, the operating system, and the applications. The new centrally managed environment simplifies technical support and can reduce downtime and costs by placing processing power requirements onto the server. A highly-skilled team of End User Services experts from IBM will provide consultation, assessment, planning, design, and implementation to help clients deploy virtual infrastructures for security-rich end-user computing.

IBM can help businesses optimize their end user environments by integrating, deploying, and innovatively managing multiple end user devices and software platforms that can increase employee performance and productivity, while freeing IT staff to focus on creating new business value. The new IBM Virtual Infrastructure Access Service provides security-rich access to applications, information, and resources anytime, from virtually anywhere.

Thin client devices, coupled with virtualized infrastructure access hold enormous potential benefits in terms of lower costs, simpler maintenance of IT infrastructure, and reduced security risks. IBM Virtualization Infrastructure Access Service clearly represents an important component in one trend that is going to reshape and simplify the IT landscape in the years ahead. IBM is helping to make it happen.