We are in the beginning stages of converting our desktops to VMs. During this process, we contacted our Desktop Management vendor to verify license requirements for virtual vs. physical, and were told we would be required to have a license for each PC - physical or virtual.
We had hoped to save a little money by going virtual, but we are finding a lot of "hidden" costs. With our current requirements to maintain hardware and software inventory, this will double the management cost of each PC we virtualize because each PC requires an agent/license.
Our current accounting requirements are such that we "charge" our "customers" based on number and type of PC. Until now, that has worked fairly well, but required that some sort of inventory agent be installed. We use Symantec (Altiris) Service and Asset Management to assign PCs to users for reporting/accounting purposes. We also use their Client Management Suite to manage the desktop applications.
We can trim back the "suite" of agents to just the inventory piece on the physical desktop, but still need the full suite of agents on the VMs for software management and inventory.
My question is this: How do other companies track their physical desktop hardware once they are converted to VMs? Do they even care about the physical desktop once converted?
I suppose we could use another vendor, but from what I've been able to find, all have the same answer - a license for each PC, physical or virtual.