Unidesk

About Unidesk

Unidesk operated as a management platform focused on Windows application mobility, addressing the complexities of virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) for IT departments. The company was co-founded by Chris Midgley, who served as the Chief Technology Officer.

The core of Unidesk's business was its patented "layering" technology, a form of file system and registry virtualization. This technology separated the Windows operating system (OS), applications, and user personalization into distinct, independent layers. For its clients, which were primarily IT departments in organizations deploying VDI, this meant they could manage a single golden image of the Windows OS and then dynamically assign or update applications as separate layers. This model significantly reduced the time and complexity associated with application packaging and delivery, patching, and image management, as changes only needed to be applied once to a single layer rather than to hundreds of individual desktops. The product was designed to work across various end-user computing solutions, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, and was compatible with platforms like VMware Horizon, Microsoft VDI, and Citrix XenApp/XenDesktop. Its business model centered on selling this management solution to enterprises looking to streamline their VDI deployments.

A significant milestone in the company's history was its acquisition by Citrix in January 2017. Citrix, a major player in the VDI and secure application delivery market, identified application layering as a critical component missing from its portfolio. The acquisition integrated Unidesk's technology directly into Citrix's XenApp and XenDesktop products, providing it to existing customers with active software maintenance. Following the acquisition, Citrix continued to offer Unidesk as a standalone product for customers using VMware Horizon and Microsoft virtual desktop solutions.