This pattern denotes the reproduction of a traditionally physical process in a virtual setting, for example, a virtual workstation. The customer benefits from being able to interact with the process from any location or device. The customer pays for access to the virtual service in exchange.

When and how to apply Virtualization:

Virtualization recreates a traditionally physical process or environment in a digital setting, letting customers access and interact with it from any location or device rather than requiring physical presence at a specific place. This removes geographic and scheduling constraints that limited the traditional physical version, often dramatically expanding your potential customer base while reducing your fixed physical infrastructure costs. Customers typically pay for access to the virtual service in place of what they would have paid for the physical equivalent, and you gain the flexibility to scale the offering to far more simultaneous users than any physical location could accommodate. Consider Virtualization if a meaningful part of your value proposition is currently tied to a physical location or in-person process, and if recreating enough of that value digitally would still be compelling to your customers.

Well-known companies that use this pattern are Zoom and Citrix.