“This has been around for a while.”
Pretty much the same concept as what Citrix has been doing for years.
The network techs push it because they don't have to support physical machines but most users avoid it if they can. Good for the network admins but less than optimal for the users. We also have an issue with software that manufacturers will not license onto a virtual machine. We also have severe problems with links between files since they're not in a fixed network directory.
The autosaving and collaboration functions make for great marketing brochures but are outright dangerous.