Molten to melt away enterprise VDI woes

VAR eyes more enterprise deals after clinching Thames Water VDI contract

Bullish virtualisation VAR Molten Technologies is gunning for growth after securing a desktop support contract with Thames Water.

London-based Molten was set up two years ago to provide enterprise customers with virtual desktop products and consultancy services. Its vendor partners include Wyse, HP and hosted desktop vendor Desktone.

The firm was recently enlisted by Thames Water to deploy a Desktone-powered desktop-as-a-service platform that can be used by a "substantial portion" of the utility provider's 4,500 staff.

Speaking to ChannelWeb, Robin Tapp, the firm's chief executive, said the deal was an example of the size of businesses with which Molten wants to work.

"The reason we chose to focus on the [larger end] of the market is because the technology that is available today, while abundant and mature, is still very complex and difficult to derive business value from," said Tapp.

"A lot of the standard VDI technology out there can struggle when it comes to scaling it up for enterprise customers, but we know how to solve that without driving up project costs."

Molten was hired by Thames Water after it decided to embark on a Windows 7 upgrade, which also needed to take into account the firm's use of third-party contractors.

"Like any Windows 7 upgrade, a large portion of the hardware estate needed refreshing," explained Tapp. "Our solution meant they could get around buying new hardware for their third-party contractors, because they can securely log in to the system from their own devices."

Aiden Heke, chief information officer at Thames Water, said: "Our decision to invest in virtual desktop technology demonstrates our long-term commitment to contain costs and boost staff productivity by improving flexibility and security."