Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Market in India 2023

Virtual desktop or Desktop Virtualization is the consolidation of desktop into virtualized server system. The revenues generated from VDI related maintenance and support services, sale of brokering/session management software to connect users to their desktop environments over cloud are included in the VDI market. Companies across major industries are starting to use VDI solutions to improve their operational efficiency, reduce storage and server costs, and implement flexible work practices.

Market insights:

The virtual desktop infrastructure market revenue is expected to reach INR 87.97 Bn by 2027, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.73%, during the 2023 - 2027 period. The adoption of VDI solutions by the business and corporate segment, as well as the education sector, maintained historic market growth in the country. According to projections, demand for remote working arrangements will continue to grow in the nation, offering new opportunities for VDI technology suppliers to generate more revenue.

Impact of COVID-19:

Businesses had to quickly transition from office-based operations to virtual work over cloud during the Covid-19 pandemic, which accelerated investments in VDI solutions in the country. WaaS (Workplace as a Service) gained momentum during the period. Also, the use of VDI by financial companies to reduce hardware costs and allow workforce to work remotely as a result of the pandemic is where VDI's future growth in India lies.

Government Initiatives:

Government’s support to the cloud services coupled with the increased demand for new IT technologies such as remote monitoring, cloud services act as a catalyst to the growth of the studied market. Few of the government initiatives to support the VDI growth in the country are GI Cloud - Meghraj, ‘Secure with Cloud’ initiative, National government cloud and others. Further, budgetary allocation to the technology sector further supports growth.

Market drivers:

The shift towards cloud technologies including VDI is mainly driven by the concerns for SMEs to lower the IT Capex (capital expenditure) and OpEx (operational expenditure) costs. The concept of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) drives the growth further. The rising smartphone penetration, soaring data telecommuting needs, surging demand for workforce productivity, are factors accelerating BYOD in the nation, particularly among industries like BFSI, telecom, media, and entertainment. Falling prices for GPU, SSDs and flash memories have also positively impacted the prices of the VDI solutions available in the market.

Key deterrents to the growth of the market:

Migration to cloud infrastructure and offerings require re-engineering and re-architecture of the existing processes and systems. Also, VDI installed at the edge are subject to cyber-attacks such as lateral movement attack where the network end points are compromised and data extrusion attacks. Thus, security is one of the crucial challenges restraining enterprises from considering implementing VDI Solutions.

Key market trends:

The concept of solutions as a service is gaining traction. Also, the adoption of VDI solutions by the government presents an opportunity for the players operating in the Indian market.