Desktone

About Desktone

Desktone, Inc. operated as a key player in the nascent Desktop as a Service (DaaS) market, providing a platform for delivering virtualized Windows desktops and applications from the cloud. Founded in 2006, the company established its headquarters in the Boston area and was financially backed by firms including Highland Capital and Softbank. Desktone's business model was centered on enabling service providers to offer hosted virtual desktops to enterprise customers on a subscription basis. This approach allowed businesses to shift desktop management costs from a capital expenditure (CAPEX) to an operational expenditure (OPEX) model, avoiding the significant upfront investment in server and storage infrastructure typically required for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).

The company's core offering was the Desktone Virtual-D Platform, an automated, self-service technology engineered specifically for cloud delivery. A key feature of the platform was its multi-tenancy architecture, which securely separated virtual environments for each customer while allowing service providers to manage multiple clients from a single interface. This was a critical differentiator, designed to navigate complex Microsoft licensing rules for virtual Windows desktops. The platform allowed for the rapid provisioning of full VDI desktops, session-based desktops, and individual applications to any user device, anywhere. This flexibility was positioned as a solution for the growing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend and simplified the transition to newer operating systems like Windows 7 or 8. Peter McKay served as President and CEO from 2010, leading the company through a period of growth and strategic partnerships.

A significant milestone for Desktone was its partnership with VMware, announced in 2011, to integrate the Desktone DaaS platform with VMware View, vSphere, and vCloud technologies. This collaboration aimed to combine Desktone's multi-tenant cloud platform with VMware's high-fidelity end-user experience. The strategic importance of this relationship culminated in October 2013, when VMware announced its acquisition of Desktone. The acquisition was a strategic move by VMware to accelerate its entry into the DaaS market and bolster its End-User Computing (EUC) portfolio, directly competing with other major players in the desktop virtualization space. The entire Desktone team, including CEO Peter McKay, transitioned to VMware's EUC group following the acquisition, with the technology becoming a core component of VMware's Horizon Air DaaS offering.