Step 8 - Build your VDI Business Case

Duration: 1-2 hours, depending on the complexity of your business case analysis and the resulting documentation produced.

I. Calculate VDI CapEx and OpEx Savings

The final step is to look at how the financial and operational efficiency benefits from deploying VDI can quickly pay back your initial investment.  These benefits can be quantified by looking at four key areas of CapEx and OpEx savings. More detail on calculating the impact of each benefit can be found in the links below:

  1. Reduced Capital Costs: lower purchase costs along with greater durability leading to longer refresh cycles can reduce the CapEx for endpoints by up to 75%.
  2. Improved IT Productivity: faster user provisioning and desktop support can save one-third to one-half of desktop admin/support staff time and salaries.
  3. Better User Experience: improved reliability and faster problem resolution can save over $500 annually per seat for every hour of user downtime eliminated.
  4. Lower Environmental Impact: zero-client VDI endpoints use a fraction of the energy used by a PC, saving over $60 annually per seat. Impacts from manufacturing, shipping and disposal are also greatly reduced.

All of the above savings from deploying VDI in place of PC desktops can help reduce the TCO of desktop computing by up to 70%.

II. Model your VDI Business Case

Taking the calculations detailed in the above steps, you can calculate the overall CapEx and OpEx financial benefits of deploying VDI, along with the environmental impact, by downloading the Pano Logic VDI Business Case Model (supplied as an Excel xls file). 

In the Assumptions area at the bottom of the downloaded worksheet, enter your specific VDI deployment details. Include financial metrics and your estimates of productivity and downtime benefits. The resulting estimates of CapEx and OpEx savings, along with the ROI payback interval, will be shown on the Results section. This may be printed out or used to develop your VDI business case and funding justification.

Pano Logic also provides a comprehensive TCO Model that can calculate detailed savings from deploying VDI.  It can also help you model optimal server and storage configurations to ensure your VDI deployment makes the most effective use possible of your CapEx investment.

To hear about the benefits other customers are realizing in a wide range of industries, visit the case studies pages.  More information on the Pano System and VDI architecture considerations can be found in the Virtual Desktops and the Pano System: An Architectural Overview whitepaper.


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