Is the full-featured corporate desktop going the way of the dodo? Maybe not, but Citrix and Cisco are doing their part to make them a rarity in offices where hundreds, or even thousands, of the machines currently consume vast amounts of power. Bring on the thin clients!

The companies today revealed that they plan to accelerate up the adoption of desktop virtualization by offering joint solutions that are a combination of Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS) and Citrix XenDesktop. For Citrix, partnering with Cisco only strengthens its position in an arena where it’s already strong. For Cisco, the stakes are higher.

As the IT giant expands beyond networking and challenges HP, Dell and IBM in the data center with UCS, it needs all the help it can get in proving that its technology can scale and handle workloads that are steadily evolving away from rigid tethers to physical servers and toward virtualization-friendly computing infrastructures that offer more flexibility, and incidentally, power savings. Enter Citrix.

Virtual desktop infrastructures (VDI) are a good test of UCS. Though consumer-facing sites and services can really work a server, employees can be demanding in their own right. VDI platforms must be up to the task lest productivity suffers and help desks get slammed with complaints. Delivering a good desktop experience over a network — LAN or WAN — is a good way to put servers, networking and storage through their paces. Cisco, by teaming with Citrix, believes that UCS is more than ready for the challenge.