“The 3rd Platform will kill VDI.” That’s a bold statement, so I’d better qualify it. But first what is the 3rd Platform? Before I answer let’s look back at the 1st and 2nd Platforms.

1st Platform
Launched April 1964, the mainframe computer is now 50. Highly successful, mainframes have connected millions of users to thousands of applications. Still in use today, mainframes are in the background keeping the modern world spinning handling airline reservations, cash machine withdrawals and credit card payments. Mainframes are very good at doing small-scale transactions over and over again, for example, adding or taking figures away from bank balances.
My eyes widened when I saw my first mainframe back in 1979 on a school trip to Lancaster Polytechnic, (Coventry University). It was like something out of science fiction taking up a room the size of a football pitch. I don’t have a picture the Lancs Poly computer suite, but the stock picture below should give you an idea.

The end user experience was limited. For end users, interaction was through the direct connected “dumb” terminal. This was just a keyboard with monotone screen, and no mouse. Users had a limited set of core business applications. And users had no mobility, in fact to use the computer they had to go to it. And reports printed out reams of perforated paper being tractor fed in dot-matix printers. Printing was slow as done line-by-line. The ideas of “point-and-click” and “drill-down data analysis” were just fantasy. This computer was not personal in any way. Although applications we’re quite basic compared with the rich applications we all use now, not having an intuitive graphical interface users like myself found text based menus difficult to remember and navigate. It took a long time to learn the system.

2nd Platform

For me, the first hint of change came in the early 90s. Used mainly by accountants, desktop PCs were taking ground in the office space. Accountants wanted to supplement their computing experience through the use of additional local applications such as Microsoft Excel, but needed continued use of Business applications hosted on the mainframe. So, I was busy removing dumb terminals, installing 5250 emulation cards and installing PC software that enabled desktop PCs to emulate IBM dumb terminals. In this instance, 5250 emulation was a “bridging technology” enabling 2^nd Platform PCs and servers to bridge the two platforms.

But, ground was also gained in the application space. As the client-server architecture matured using easily available x86 Windows Servers, business applications went from thousands to tens of thousands. Some were rewritten 1^st Platform apps, but most apps were new representing new innovative business solutions. Focus shifted to developing applications for presentation within the desktop PC using the intuitive Windows GUI. Working with .NET and ASP, I too move from my beloved CL language and RPG programming. I was now free to rapidly develop corporate intranet pages that displayed sales results in a few clicks. I was also free to work on projects where technical documents would be distributed electronically, then retrieved using simple databases queries and PC client software.

For the users, well they felt empowered. The computer was now personal. It was theirs with their numerous business automating applications that could be personalised. And with all this need, the 2^nd Platform saw an explosion in servers, desktops and laptops. And all the people required to support it all doubled, and then quad doubled. Users could finally break the boundaries and take computing to the home, remote offices, and the field. The computer became central to everything we do with applications covering every sector and every use case.

Shown below, the typical 2^nd Platform 3-tier application architecture shows an intermediary level, meaning the architecture is generally split up between:

• A client, i.e. the Windows PC, which requests the resources, equipped with a user interface (usually a web browser) for presentation purposes.
• The application server (also called middleware), whose task it is to provide the requested resources, but by calling on another server.
• The database server, which provides the application server with the data it requires.

Now VDI plays very well here. It main provides:

• Increased mobility: A Windows desktop can be virtualised, hosted in a secure data center, and accessed in another continent, e.g. a call center in India.
• Increased security: Unlike using a local PC, only the images, mouse and keyboard clicks traverse the network. So data can be viewed, but remains secured in the data center.
• Improved management: Having many client PCs requires a large ongoing management overhead. VDI fixes this problem with improved management tools leveraging the concept of “do it once for many.”
• IT as a Service: Centrally controlled, leveraging virtualisation, much can be automated. Also, as software defined, much can be delegated to users through the use of self-service portals.

So, in summary, for the 2^nd Platform, a well deployed VDI solution can increase productivity, enable a truly mobile workforce and save ongoing management costs. To be honest if you manage your VDI estate the same as your PC estate (for the last 15 years), well you’re missing the point. Successful VDI must include the necessary transformation and business process change. And yes, you can manage more users with less PC support staff. Think 2 VDI support guys to every 2,000 VDI users, sounds scary, but do it right and it’s achievable.

3rd Platform

So now we’re moving to the 3^rd Platform. Why? Because we’re out growing of the 2^nd Platform. Data is becoming Big Data. Consumerization of IT gives us “information appliances”, tablets, smartphones, smart TVs, gaming consoles, The Internet of Things. As users we’re not just mobile, but we’re constantly on-the-go. And increasingly connected devices are creating data lakes primed for analysis. And not forgetting, Business wants increased levels of agility, being the need to rapidly execute business change and development – adapt or die. Be Netflix, not Blockbuster.

The block below details The Internet of Things and Big Data in flight, so to say.

Virgin Atlantic is preparing for a significant increase in data as it embraces the Internet of Things, with a new fleet of highly connected planes expected to create over half a terabyte of data per flight each. IT director David Bulman said: “The latest planes we are getting, the Boeing 787s, are incredibly connected. Literally every piece of that plane has an internet connection, from the engines, to the flaps, to the landing gear. If there is a problem with one of the engines we will know before it lands to make sure that we have the parts there. It is getting to the point where each different part of the plane is telling us what it is doing as the flight is going on. We can get upwards of half a terabyte of data from a single flight from all of the different devices which are internet connected.”

Source: Computerworld UK. Boeing 787s to create half a terabyte of data per flight, says Virgin Atlantic

http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/infrastructure/3433595/boeing-787s-create-half-terabyte-of-data-per-flight-says-virgin-atlantic/

What make data big? Big Data is data that exceeds the processing capacity of conventional database systems. The data is too big, moves too fast, or doesn’t fit conventional database and application structures. Basically, our conventional 2^nd Platform, 3-tier architecture is bursting at the seams.

With the 3^rd Platform its predicted users will increase from hundreds of millions to billions. And applications will increase from tens of thousands to millions. So what’s the answer? It’s a different architecture based on scale-out data processing, massive storage capabilities and rapid application development that enables ubiquitous access using all devices, not limited to desktop PC and laptops.

Shown below, is what a 3^rd Platform architecture looks like.

Central to the solution is Hadoop. Not a big bucket, but the “Data Lake.” Hadoop brings the ability to cheaply process large amounts of data regardless of its structure. Using MapReduce framework developed by Google in response to the problem of creating web search indexes. MapReduce provides the ability to take a query over a dataset, divide it, and run it in parallel over multiple server nodes – ability to scale. Distributing the computation solves the issue of data being too large to fit onto a single server. Using commodity Linux servers this is very much a scale-out solution to the Big Data problem. At a lower level, Hadoop uses HDFS, a distributed file system giving all server nodes in a cluster access to the data. Also robust, server nodes in a cluster can fail and not abort the computation process. Unlike conventional systems, there are no restrictions on the data that HDFS can store.

For the end-user, the 3^rd Platform offers a break from the ubiquitous Windows desktop. Already we’re seeing Apps developed just for IOS and Android. So the 3^rd Platform promises greater application choice with increased data access, understanding and user mobility.

VDI in the 3^rd Platform

Now back to my initial statement, “The 3^rd Platform will kill VDI.” Ok, behind every VDI desktop is a virtual Windows desktop – Windows Server, Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 8. But driven by application development and the consumerization of devices, it’s logical to conclude the Windows desktop (in its current form) and therefore VDI will eventually be superseded.

But hold on! Don’t cancel your VDI projects just yet……

It’s all about the applications, and getting those apps to your users. VDI is a great bridging technology between the 2^nd and 3^rd Platforms. Just as we moved from the 1^st Platform to the 2^nd we used methods of bridging, for example 5250 emulation, VDI becomes even more relevant providing the access to 2^nd Platform apps with the mobility and consumer device usage choice that the 3^rd Platform promises.

So will the 3^rd Platform kill VDI? Not just yet. While we still have many tens of thousands 2^nd Platform apps that rely on the Windows desktop to run and present those apps, VDI will remain relevant. In fact as a bridging technology giving 3^rd Platform “type” mobile access and consumer device usage, VDI is very relevant. But be aware; it’s the application developers that are the new kingmakers. As developers shift from 2^nd Platform client-server architectures and focus on new agile app development for IOS and Android, Windows desktop sales will continue to decline.

I don’t really believe VDI will die, in fact the opposite is true. The 3^rd Platform will enable VDI evolution where Cloud Computing and the 3^rd Platform put information into the hands of virtually any device, and any object. Microsoft explain this evolution the best. Checkout Microsoft’s vision for the future. Then ask yourself how it works.

https://www.microsoft.com/office/vision/

My answer. Its simple, ubiquitous network connectivity, Cloud Computing hosting 3^rd Platform big data solutions and apps. And then the ability to remote display apps that are hosted somewhere in a cluster of data centers, and then display those apps remotely on multiple objects, while users are on the go. Sounds easy. Well that’s evolution.