VMware Horizon Community
escadan3000
Contributor
Contributor

What happens to the Desktop Support team after move to VDI?

Currently winding down a VDI POC and senior management has asked what happens to our Desktop Support team if we make the jump. I've been asked to come up with a list of roles I see the Desktop team filling after the transition. I have several thoughts already, but I'd be interested to hear from others who have made the leap about what happened with their 1st/2nd tier support folks.

The political power struggles can get pretty hectic within my organization, and any thought we are trying to marginalize our Desktop Support team won't play well. Senior management will put the brakes on this project just to forestall the infighting. I'd like to come to the table with a few ideas beyond what I have in hopes of keeping everyone calm.

Some details:

  • 5000-ish users with 12 FTE Desktop Support techs and a fluctuating number of yearly contractors (currently 9).
  • Plans are for a vast majority of the user base to connect to non-persistent VMs.
  • Over 70 locations throughout a local region.
  • Image creation/management handled by me.
  • ThinApp creation handled by me.


So really the question is: where do 1st and 2nd tier folks fit in?

4 Replies
RyanGoldstein
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

They don't go anywhere.  VDI fixes your old issues but there are always new issues.  Users will continue to have problems with their applications and roaming profiles.  Outlook will continue to have issues even in non-persistent VDI.

5000 thousand users on VDI would need 8-12 techs.

Are you  going replace all of your PC's with thin clients, if not you will continue to have PC issues, you will have Horizon client issues, more printing issues then you can shake a stick at.

With VDI the problems are usually easier to fix and less diverse, but users will still open tickets. 

escadan3000
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks for the reply! 

The thought on thin clients is that we exist with the PCs we have in place.  As these PCs hit their scheduled replacement times, they'll be refreshed with thin clients.

Reply
0 Kudos
AlexeyKhudyakov
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Agree.

Count of tickets will be less but they will be.

The first and the second lines of support must be ready to solve VDI's issues. Lot of the issues will be completely new for them.

Reply
0 Kudos
Smoke14
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

I agree also, your support teams do not go away. Just making there job more efficient.

FYI,

I noticed you only mentioned ThinApp and nothing else, I strongly suggest you look at UEM, App Volumes and vROPs for Horizon to make your life and theirs even better. You want this to be a great experience for your End Users and Support teams.

Mike_A
Reply
0 Kudos