A New Way Forward

The term 'virtual solution' may sound overtly technical to some, but in its essence it describes the move towards 'on-demand' services in the I.T. world. The term 'I.T. on demand' may be easier to grasp. You may be already familiar with on-demand services in the entertainment industry, such as pay per view Television and so on. Virtualization allows I.T. professionals to bring a similar concept to the provision of targeted and tailored I.T. solutions for small and medium enterprises. 

Most information driven businesses have a requirement for one workstation per employee, and each workstation will usually require investment in associated software applications. 

The likes of anti-virus products, word and data processing software products (such as Microsoft Office), and other 3rd party software products are usually necessary. Each of these items mentioned have specific capital costs associated with their installation and on-going usage. For example, each workstation will have a purchase cost followed by a configuration cost after it is physically installed. A business I.T. on demand solution cuts the need for many of the actions mentioned above, and as a result cuts the cost of your I.T. overhead.

Our aim at Virtual Machine Center is to help both new businesses and established businesses migrate to a virtual I.T. environment and reduce their I.T. expenditure. The migration process will deliver a familiar desktop experience to end users. In fact, the end result of a migration to a virtual solution will see users retain the look and feel of their Windows XP or Vista desktops while accessing their data securely and remotely.

There are two distinct paths to data migration that we offer:

Path 1
This option is suited to businesses with existing PC based workstations. These workstations are not scheduled for replacement in the short term, and are XP or Vista based systems.

Your Workstations: Existing PCs and/or laptops are retained on-site in the immediate term, and are used as terminals for communication with your virtual server. A phased programme of replacement for these PC/laptop systems is usual as and when they become obsolete. Obsolete PCs are replaced with the much cheaper and efficient thin client workstations when the time comes. The timescale for this hardware replacement is as flexible as you choose. Individual end-users desktops are replicated and an individual virtual machine is created for each end-user.

Your Server: Complete replication of your existing small business server and all associated data to a dedicated virtual server located off-site at our virtual data centre. This virtual server is completely secure and resources are dedicated solely to your business. The data migration process is carried out by highly experienced VMC engineers over an agreed timescale.

Path 2
This option is suited to businesses with a known number of ageing or near-obsolete PC based workstations. These workstations may be nearing their end of life, and are scheduled for replacement in the short term.

Path 2 is also highly suited to business start-ups who have not yet made an investment in I.T. hardware of any kind and are looking for the most cost-efficient option to give them a business I.T. solution quickly and efficiently.

Your Workstations: In the case of start-up businesses, thin client workstations are installed on-site in place of PC/laptop workstations. In the case of an existing business, any obsolete PCs are replaced with much cheaper and efficient thin client workstations.

Your Server: Where an existing small business server exists, the complete replication of the server and all associated data to a dedicated virtual server located off-site at our virtual data centre. This virtual server is completely secure and resources are dedicated solely to your business. The data migration process is carried out by highly experienced VMC engineers over an agreed timescale.

For a business start up, it is usually simply the creation of a new virtual server, which takes a fraction of the configuration time necessary for an in-house small business server.