US software developer Desktone claims to be the first provider of a system that enables delivery of 'desktops-as-a-service'.

The Desktone Virtual-D Platform, unveiled this week, is designed specifically to enable service providers to offer hosted, subscription-based virtual desktops.

Its creators claim that the offering gives enterprises the benefits of centralised virtual desktops without having to build and deploy the infrastructure internally, thereby reducing desktop total cost of ownership.

"There is a tremendous amount of industry interest in virtual desktop computing as it can reduce desktop costs, improve manageability and enhance security," said Harry Ruda, chief executive at Desktone.

"However, widespread adoption has been slow because it is very difficult for enterprises to implement.

"Desktone eliminates the complexity and speeds the on-ramp to virtual desktop computing by transforming desktops into a cost-effective, highly scalable subscription service."

The Virtual-D Platform claims to simplify large-scale virtual desktop provisioning and management while reducing desktop total cost of ownership by $300-$800 per desktop per year.

The 'desktops-as-a-service' model consists of two distinct tiers: enterprise and service provider.

Virtual-D Platform integrates all virtual desktop infrastructure functionality while separating the enterprise and service provider tiers.

This allows enterprises to manage a virtual desktop environment supported by physical resources owned and maintained by a third party, and that reside either at the enterprise or at a service provider.