The cost advantages of virtual desktop infrastructures aren’t limited strictly to IT operations. You can also use this technology to lower expenses in other areas, such as selecting and issuing equipment to your employees. With the ability to push a fresh desktop (including Windows 7) to any device – including mobile devices – desktop virtualization provides the backbone for a change in your “standard issue” equipment for your business users.

If you could find a way to issue less expensive devices to your average employee, the cost savings across your company would be substantial. Think about replacing all those laptops with thin-clients, for example. From capital outlay for procurement through ongoing maintenance and replacement, the potential reduction in TCO is enormous.

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The principal advantage of server and storage virtualization is that your existing equipment becomes more efficient. Instead of managing a lot of under-utilized equipment, you make better use of what you have, preventing the need to tie up your budget with additional purchases. At the same time, though, you can expect utilization of your existing servers to increase over time – that’s the point, after all.

With your streamlined IT operation, you wind up introducing a new risk into your datacenter: losing one physical server, because of the consolidated environment, could have a disproportionate effect. Fortunately, a bit of planning up front can help you prepare for this possibility.

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Heterogeneous infrastructures are inherently costly and difficult to manage. The need to integrate different systems, maintain a wide spectrum of skill sets and engage multiple teams to diagnose and resolve problems requires a considerable investment in management and coordination. Simply marshaling the necessary resources can cut the time allowed for repair under your SLAs.

1. Internal consistency: Enhance IT operational efficiency throughout your datacenter with a unified solution that facilitates system integration and management, allowing you to alleviate IT team workloads and reallocate team members to higher-impact initiatives.

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Adoption of Citrix XenDesktop 4 has been robust. Many companies are interested in implementing a centralized solution for desktop management, particularly since the control it brings solves a number of IT support challenges, from software deployment to malware prevention. Operational efficiency gains are salient post-implementation, and the TCO and ROI cases are clear. Aside from these high-level benefits, though, there are a number of granular reasons to move to Citrix XenDesktop. Here are the top three:

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Disaster recovery and business continuity can be a challenge to manage effectively. In addition to investing considerable amounts of capital into robust, reliable solutions, you’re stuck with the nagging thought that you’re putting your budget into something you hope you never actually have to use. Anything you can do to simplify your D/R framework comes with an inherent cost advantage, particularly through a reduction in complexity and resource-hours committed to planning and managing the environment.

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In this series, we’ll focus on the implications of specific technology solutions for CFOs. Though they are the keepers of a company’s financial health, they don’t always understand the advantages that come with certain technology solutions, and IT professionals sometimes take a suboptimal approach when explaining these concepts to the finance team. This series is intended to help make those conversations easier and more effective.

You know the drill: the CFO needs to keep costs contained. Meanwhile, the IT department always seems like it’s running too lean. Demands are always increasing, especially as new systems are introduced to increase business efficiency. Every new opportunity to streamline operations across the company seems to come with an incremental burden on the infrastructure. So, what happens to the infrastructure team?

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In this series, we’ll focus on the implications of specific technology solutions for CFOs. Though they are the keepers of a company’s financial health, they don’t always understand the advantages that come with certain technology solutions, and IT professionals sometimes take a suboptimal approach when explaining these concepts to the finance team. This series is intended to help make those conversations easier and more effective.

Your CFO is focused on keeping costs under control, and a request for new technology tends to be met with skepticism. Whether he thinks you’re chasing something new and exciting or believes that the status quo is just fine for now, the CFO isn’t likely to start writing checks just because you asked. Emphasizing the technological advantages of a particular solution won’t help much either, especially for virtualization technologies, which can be difficult for anyone working outside the infrastructure team to grasp fully. So, when you reach out to your CFO to talk about the need for a virtualization solution (e.g., storage, server or desktop), you need to make sure your pitch is tailored to a decidedly non-technical audience.

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We may not be back to pre-financial crisis activity, but all signs are that the economy has taken a distinct turn for the better. And, it’s what you do early on in an economic recovery that can make a difference later. A smart move now will be amplified later, so it’s the perfect time to seize a competitive advantage. Collaboration and communication can provide a great starting point for implementing the tools that will lead to an outsized edge down the road. So, here are five tips from Cisco on how to take an early lead that will become a big one later.

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The human factor is what makes managing an IT helpdesk difficult. Demand is never steady. Peak periods can be difficult to anticipate and may occur for unexpected reasons. This causes many IT departments to choose one of two inefficient alternatives: either carry an oversized operation that is dormant or run lean and accept that service will be degraded when people need it most. Neither option, of course, is acceptable. Outsource your IT helpdesk function, and you can optimize results and your investment.

Business users are often unsatisfied with the level of helpdesk support they receive. Though it’s for good reason, many don’t understand the tradeoffs facing the IT department. If you have been tasked to run a small helpdesk team, you can keep costs down, and most of the time, there’s no net impact to the end user community. When the calls start to come in, however, the impact is noticed. It takes longer to answer calls.

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With all the communications tools already on the market, it’s still difficult, sometimes, to put the right group of professionals together. The effort becomes even more complex when you include the need to share documents, collaborate on daunting issues or share ideas in real time. Somehow, many of the collaboration solutions fall short of delivering the ability to connect quickly and work together in real time without regard to business units and physical locations. With Cisco Unified Communications, however, you can take full advantage of the deep business and technical knowledge resident in your business, as though everyone involved were sitting in the same room.

In today’s well-connected and hyper-competitive marketplace – regardless of what industry you’re in – the ability to communicate no longer provides a competitive edge. Rather, it’s the price of admission. If you can’t pull together the right group of experts quickly, you risk falling behind … and ceding market share to the competition. It’s too easy to miss an opportunity when the pace of business is measured in seconds instead of days or weeks.

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