While personal computers and laptops are still helpful in every industry, processing data and applications have evolved. More than half of the workforce is partially or fully operating remotely, and they need flexible remote access to applications and data. It is not feasible and financially possible to offer VPN-enabled office laptops to every employee. At some point, we need to think of cost-efficiency. But, when we do that, the risk of openly using office data and apps on an unguarded endpoint is just too much.
So, what do we do?
What can we do to mitigate challenges of security, hectic deployments, and backups?
Hosted desktops are the answer. Moving your physical desktops to cloud desktops helps you offer flexible access to your employees. The right Cloud Service Provider (CSP) makes deployment and legacy data migration simpler for your team.
Below we have discussed 5 reasons to move to hosted desktops.
What is a Hosted Desktop?
Do you know what hosted desktops are?
A virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) is a remote service that helps you host your desktops on a server. Now, a virtual copy of your desktops is created on the server, from where your employees can access these virtual desktops on any device.
Drawing upon the learnings of this infrastructure, hosted desktops takes this entire infrastructure on the cloud server. From the cloud server, the CSP offers remote access to employees. The backend of hosted desktop provider’s cloud is still VDI. The CSP and the cloud only simplify your desktop provisioning, software updates, server management, scalability, etc.
Benefits of Moving to Hosted Desktops?
Since many businesses are already experiencing a digital transformation due to remote working culture, hosted desktops can benefit their strategy. Check how hosted desktops help streamline everything from deployment and data migration to security and backups.
A Balanced Workplace
Do you often experience a lag in-office communication?
Do you feel that your employees are not that easily connected as they could be?
If so, then hosted desktops can resolve your problem. We are running a world where a large part of the workforce is working remotely, and we consistently communicate with the client online. So many transactions happen through technology. But, are these communications efficient?
Somewhere, an employee is stuck at an office computer, and another one is carrying around a VPN -enabled laptop everywhere they go.
Hosted desktops can help you unify your workforce and workplace. This unification offers you access to apps and data through a remote server anywhere, anytime, and on any device. Whether you need to open a virtual desktop on the phone or coordinate over a file, you can achieve it without friction on the cloud.
Scalability
Every organization in the industry needs to grow. Everyone needs success, and while achieving it, we increase our workforce and become better. However, as we achieve that, scaling of resources and performance is inevitable. Your team performs the scaling of resources in-house. They need to increase hardware, set up devices, and monitor devices.
The VDI provider achieves all this for you in the case of the cloud. You don't need to procure hardware or keep using this storage when you no longer need it. Scalability is flexible. You can scale and descale according to business needs.
Cost-Effectiveness
Hosted virtual desktop pricing is much less than other methods, such as VDI or office desktop usage. You can reduce expenses in various ways:
- Hosted desktop pricing includes paying as you go model. This means you are only paying for acquired services.
- You can mitigate charges of managing an entire IT department. You can use one IT employee to overlook operations.
- The best devices to use for virtual desktops are the devices you already have. This means you can keep using this hardware for longer. It is possible to achieve config and performance upgrades in virtual desktops.
- You can use the BYOD policy to allow your employees to use their own devices. This reduces your costs of hardware.
Security and Backup
Hosted desktops offer protection without hassle.
Of course, we can improve the security of office desktops and VDI as well. But, we need to do it on our own. In the case of hosted desktops, the VDI providers take care of the security through various implementations.
- Firstly, the cloud is naturally secure. When you open virtual desktops on endpoints, the desktop opened is virtual only. This means no office data of this virtual desktop is stored on the endpoint. Any damage to the endpoint doesn’t impact your apps and data.
- The VDI provider ensures the physical security of the cloud data centers. There are CCTVs and fingerprint scanners for authorized access.
- The data stored on the cloud is encrypted using TLS 1.3 and 256-bit encryption.
- Further, there’s multi-factor authentication and access control to ensure only authenticated and authorized access to your cloud data and apps.
- The VDI provider also regularly upgrades your systems and ensures OS patching.
- Usually, VDI providers use the Intrusion Detection and Prevention System to catch and automatically resolve injections.
Other than security, VDI providers take regular backups of your data. This helps you recover your data in case of a disaster. Even when you accidentally delete files or a disaster ruins a data center, you can recover your desktops through virtual backups on backup servers of the VDI provider.
Faster Deployment and Feasible Access
The VDI providers quickly deploy hosted desktops. This deployment only requires understanding the requirements of your business. You additionally need to provide an access tree. After this, desktops for different employees are created, and legacy data is moved to the cloud.
The VDI provider offers a portal or browser-based access to use virtual desktops after this.
Access to these desktops is flexible in many ways:
- You can access your desktop from any location through an internet connection. Just open your browser, explicit multi-factor authentication, and use your desktops.
- It is possible to open a virtual desktop on any tablet, mobile phone, laptop, or computer. You need uninterrupted internet access for the same.
Conclusion
In the pre-pandemic world (in 2019), the hosted desktop adoption rate was 61%. Today, we have already experienced the worst disruption of the pandemic, so naturally. This adoption rate is much more.
Why are businesses adopting hosted desktops?
Some move to the cloud for security, and others like the idea of cost-effective scalability. Find out how cloud-hosted desktops can benefit your organization and move to the cloud. Look for a reliable CSP and deploy your desktops on the cloud to make a difference in your workplace culture.
