What percentage of applications and desktops can be dealt with in this way?
Reger Even with all the work we can do there will still be a filtering of all the possible desktops to find those that can deal with the wire problem. We will then have to do a further filtering based on security. So how much is left then? If it is 10% forget it as it makes no business sense. If 50%, that is good.

What we need is a hybrid model in the enterprise that can also deal with the check-in and check-out. Unfortunately in a hybrid model - we've done the math - the portion that is not optimised overwhelms the rest so there is only so much efficiency you can gain. What we do know is that you must have a damn good mechanism of corporate desktop and management of the traditional environment as well as this.

This is why we are doing Dynamic Infrastructures. There is Workplace as a Service, managed services and managed desktops. We are offering everything from physical to virtual desktops and other stuff. What is important is that the server backbone is run by us and that allows us to deliver.

Is there a role for caching this inside the enterprise? After all, if they have a hybrid world, they will have a location where hardware could be deployed.
Reger What this calls for, and we don't yet understand the problem in depth, is probably a Workplace as a Service offering that is on premise. The installation is the cache but it is run totally lights out from the datacentre where we have all the same stuff. There are other advantages, it will be inside the firewall and it will be closer to the data that the customer, for good reason, wants to retain control over.

We have to be careful about the use of the word Cloud but with I see it as this. A public cloud is where we have the solution and everything. A private cloud is where it sits on the customer premises and they own and run it. With Workplace as a Service I have this notion of a Virtual Private Cloud. This is where the hardware and software are on the customer premises but it belongs to us and we run it just for them, no sharing.

So what becomes the entry point here? 5,000 seats, 1,000 seats? 500 seats?
Reger Exactly. The problem is where is the scaling. If it is it at 5,000 PCs you would have few customers. At the 800 or 1,000 pc range there are now a couple of customers. At between 500 or 600 then that is a very interesting model. Remember the proposition is that you sign the contract and I will put equipment into your datacentre and you have to leave it alone. It will be sealed and this requires a different level of customer trust

But this is surely no different from the relationship they have with their telco and the PBX today?
Reger Perhaps but we are talking about computer hardware that they are used to having and using.

We are already seeing customers going out there and building their test environments. Some are single sourcing while others are trying to roll their own with solutions from multiple vendors. How will you deal with that?
Reger I hope we can talk each and every one of them out of this. The problem is that it opens up the barn door and creates too many attack surfaces. Part of the value proposition from us is that we will do this for a limited number of packages.

I am trying to educate my own people to not take all the possible combinations of packages. We just cannot seal that everywhere. Better to have just a few packages and be able to seal the perimeter and have no options to start swapping packages in. With fewer combinations we can certify and supply a solution.

One last question. In this limited environment, it is likely that people will have to run some software locally. Do you see customers running multiple workplaces and how will this impact what you are trying to deliver?
Reger Customers will be able to take ownership of their own applications. A bare metal hypervisor will allow them to have these multiple images and control. However, this will happen only if I give explicit permission to work with this. In the case of extreme danger I will have to reserve the right to nuke the private workplace in hypervisor as I will have no way of knowing what else might be going on.

Dr Reger, thank you for your time