by Geoffrey Murase, Solutions Marketing, VMware
The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon is NOT restricted to the business world. It has already permeated college campuses around the world. More and more, students are bringing their own connected devices to school and expecting support from college IT departments. Whether it’s a tablet, smartphone, laptop or even gaming consoles or smart TVs, students need to be connected and have access to their applications and files.
North Carolina State University recognized the BYOD trend early on and has been proactive about supporting their student and faculty BYOD needs. They have successfully addressed the BYOD challenge with the help of VMware Horizon View™ virtual desktops. Check out this short video which highlights their strategy and experience using virtualized desktops.
In addition, I recently spoke with the CIO of a large community college about the major challenges that he’s facing when it comes to BYOD. As a community college, students are more likely to be working full-time during the day and need access to campus resources during off hours. Instead of IT departments having to keep computer labs open all night, students at community colleges often access their coursework off campus with their home computers, tablets, or other devices. The key is to have a consistent user experience and that’s where virtual desktops make perfect sense.
He then added that his least favorite time of year used to be the holiday season. I was puzzled at first, but he went on to explain that his IT department wasn’t prepared for all of the new devices that the students had received as gifts and would bring back to campus with them in the new year. Now with virtual desktops, however, it makes life (and staying in the holiday spirit!) a lot easier for them.
