VMware is acquiring VDI-as-a-service provider Desktone as part of a push to dent Citrix’s dominance in the desktop virtualization space. Announced this week at the VMworld 2013 Europe conference in Barcelona, the deal underscores what Wikibon Senior Analyst Stu Miniman perceives as the “steady growth” of the virtual desktop infrastructure market.

In a fresh piece entitled VDI Marketplace Maturing and Poised for Growth, Miniman observes that the technology is starting to edge toward widespread adoption in segments where it has not gained significant traction in the past. VMware’s robust ecosystem of technology vendors and channel partners positions it to capitalize on this trend, he writes.

The biggest barriers to VDI adoption are cost, performance, the management complexity associated with maintaining user experience, and the operational disruptions that can be caused by changing infrastructure. Increased demand for flash and converged infrastructure solutions is offsetting these challenges and disrupting the economics of VDI in the process.

“With the economics and technology of solutions maturing, IT departments should revisit VDI,” Miniman recommends. “Users are advised to undergo a thorough evaluation and pilot phase and to work with knowledgeable partners that have proven experience in successful deployments without going over the planned budgets. Solutions should leverage flash, have simplified deployment and take advantage of mobility.”

Converged infrastructure vendor SimpliVity is leading the pack when it comes to helping customers take advantage of new trends to get the biggest bang for their VDI buck. The company recently upgraded its flagship OmniCube platform to support Nvidia and Teradici technology for high-performance virtual desktop implementations.

SimpliVity is targeting both VMware and Citrix customers with its solution, shedding light on how the growth of emerging hypervisors could limit the addressable market for the server virtualization giant. Miniman believes that Microsoft Hyper-V may soon pose a serious threat to VMware, which is why the latter is taking the fight to the cloud with the Desktone buy.