Part 2: The State of the GPU-Powered Workspace in 2017

So what do we think 2017 has in store for end-user computing? (here's our recap of the foundation we built in 2016 - 'Enterprise-Grade, Cloud-Ready') Now let's take a look forward in part two of this series, to see what the future will bring.

2017 Will Be About the GPU-Enabled Enterprise

You'll notice we didn't say 'GPU-accelerated,' because we're thinking broader than faster graphics or app responsiveness. As our CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has shared, we're entering a new era in computing, where GPUs are powering artificial intelligence and, more importantly, the new 'AI enterprise' - one that uses GPU to gain faster insights and make decisions with superhuman power. In 2017 we'll see this transformative effect first-hand, as the tip of the 'GPU spear' makes its mark on virtual end-user computing, in the following ways:

GPUs Will Democratize Delivery of Modern Apps, Windows 10

The modern app and OS looks drastically different from its predecessor of five years. It's twice as graphics-hungry (even if it's not a 'graphics'-app per se), and it was never coded with virtualization in mind. GPUs in the data center and cloud will answer this call, and enable every app, from simple email to browsers, to multimedia to office suites, all faithfully delivered with the physical device performance users take for granted. This really means two things: 1) the imaginary wall that exists between virtualizable and non-virtualizable apps will come down, and 2) to get there, you'll find a GPU in every VDI host.

Digital Transformation Will Create More Efficient Hybridization of Workflows

For a long time, organizations have been approaching the virtualization of workstations as mutually exclusive to retaining physical. No longer. We're now seeing business embrace greater productivity gained when taking a portfolio approach to application delivery, and complementing professional graphics workstations with virtual ones. This will allow designers to move seamlessly from a physical environment where performance is maximized, to a virtual one where secure mobility is preferred, and back again. This efficient hybridization of workflow will unleash designer productivity like never before.

The GPU-Cloud Will Unify Compute and Graphics

As we started, this year will be about the GPU-enabled enterprise. No longer will we be talking about one GPU for graphics virtualization or another GPU for accelerated computing. No more siloed infrastructure in the data center, or in the cloud. In the same way cloud enables the liquidity of workloads, the GPU-cloud will unify compute and graphics and enable enterprises to dynamically service both - tapping into the cloud for graphics-accelerated end-user computing, as well as analytics, deep learning and AI - all supported by a universal pool of GPU horsepower that intelligently multiplexes itself across all these demands.

We're excited about what 2017 will bring, not for us, but for this new GPU-enabled enterprise that will demolish the barriers to productivity, improve security, redefine end-user computing economics and compete in the a global marketplace with previously unimaginable speed. For more information on how we're transforming end-user computing through the power of the GPU, visit www.nvidia.com/grid.