Citic Telecom is using VMware Horizon to stand up its desktop as a service offering

Hong Kong-based telco Citic Telecom CPC has launched a desktop as a service offering based on VMware Horizon, which the company claims is the first of its kind in the region.

The company said the virtual desktop solution will be aimed at enterprises in the Asia Pacific region that operate in multiple locations but don’t necessarily have the resources to stand up their infrastructure.

“Many enterprises in Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific region are employing a bigger mobile workforce, and more and more are running on a multi-office model. However, the technical infrastructure of these enterprises is not able to support the dynamic requirements in everyday operations,” said Mr. Daniel Kwong, Senior vice president of information technology and security services at Citic Telecom.

The move is part of a broader effort to strengthen the telco’s reach in the regional IT services, particularly in Singapore, Taiwan and mainland China. To strengthen its cloud offerings the company launched its first cloud datacentre in Shanghai last year, and it also plans to open two more cloud datacentres in Beijing and Guangzhou in late 2015.

It will also give the virtualisation incumbent a boost in the region. Last year VMware expanded its cloud services in Asia in partnership with China Telecom in China and SoftBank in Japan.

Danny Tam, general manager of VMware Hong Kong, said: “The mobile cloud is transforming how enterprises should operate, and this is the core of what we do. Our collaboration with Citic Telecom CPC will open the door to more enterprises in Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific region, given Citic Telecom CPC’s extensive network and the credibility that both VMware and Citic Telecom CPC have in the market.”