Remote working technology has become a hot topic over the past few months. In these unprecedented times, we have seen a drastic shift in the way that businesses are operating, and remote working has become the "new normal" that many organizations have already embraced.
When it comes to remote working, it's important to note that the right technology goes a long way to ensuring a smooth transition from on-premise to work-from-home. And, at ProServeIT, we've helped a lot of our clients understand the options that suit their particular needs and requirements. That's why, in this blog, we're going to explore the benefits of Azure Virtual Desktop, a relatively new remote working technology that would allow you to provide desktop infrastructure to your employees, no matter where they're working from!
Is your organization still exploring remote working technology? Want to provide your employees with the same desktop experience that they had on-premise, but with the flexibility that allows them to take that desktop anywhere, from any device? If the answer to either of these questions is 'yes', now's the time to look into Azure Virtual Desktop!
So, What is Azure Virtual Desktop?
Azure Virtual Desktop is a fully Cloud-based comprehensive desktop and app virtualization service provided by Microsoft and powered by Azure. With built-in security and compliance features, Azure Virtual Desktop provides a secure virtual desktop infrastructure to an organization’s end-users, allowing them to work from a Cloud-based platform that they can sign into from any device.
Learn more about Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD)
Why is Azure Virtual Desktop an Important Remote Working Technology?
Virtual Desktop platforms, like Azure Virtual Desktop, are revolutionizing how people do work. Not only do they provide employees with a convenient and secure way to access the data they depend on to do their jobs, but organizations are seeing that the flexible and scalable option of having Virtual Desktop Infrastructure in place can significantly reduce their overall costs, both capital and operational!
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So, what are the benefits of this technology? Why should you be interested in what it can do for you? Here are four ways that Azure Virtual Desktop can provide your organization with a solid remote working technology:
1. With Remote Desktop technology, your data can be more secure! 🛡️
Let's face it; we've all heard stories of companies who are being crippled by ransomware, malware, and other local security attacks. A virtual solution, like Azure Virtual Desktop, can help you to create an extra layer of security, which doesn't rely fully on the device that your employees are using and whether or not they are secure. Since all data is held and worked on in the Cloud, Azure Virtual Desktop negates the need for employees to host any corporate data on their devices.
Azure Virtual Desktop, specifically, is hosted in Microsoft Azure, a trusted and secure platform. So, by implementing this solution, you'll be able to take advantage Microsoft's investment in security infrastructure. Being such a public company, Microsoft is one of the most attacked organizations across the planet, so they know a thing or two about what it means to be the trusted name in security. In fact, Microsoft invests a billion dollars annually on keeping their infrastructure secure, and this investment, combined with the knowledge and expertise they've developed over the years, helps customer environments to be far more secure in Azure than any on-premise counterparts.
2. With Remote Desktop technology, your IT team doesn't need to inspect physical PCs! ☁️
With Azure Virtual Desktop, there is no longer a need for IT support staff to have to handle or inspect an employee's physical PC. Virtual desktop integration, like with Azure Virtual Desktop, means that your technical team can push policy-based apps and rules to any linked workstation. This would allow for any user who may be experiencing hardware trouble to access their data and applications by logging into another linked machine.
3. With Remote Desktop technology, You can hire the right people for the job, regardless of geographic location! 🌎
Imagine the freedom you could have if you were no longer restricted to hiring people from within a specific geographic location! Think of how much being able to go outside of your borders could widen your talent pool and give you the ability to hire fully-qualified candidates that are perfect for the job you need done.
By implementing a virtual desktop solution, this can become a reality! A virtual presence allows for the versatility to be able to provide workstations that can be accessed from anywhere, and from any device. So, in short, Azure Virtual Desktop can help expand your organization's geographic footprint in a simple way!
And these technological capabilities don't just translate to widening your talent pool - by implementing Azure Virtual Desktop, you can also provide your current employees to have more flexibility in the way they work - with versatility and agility to do their jobs from anywhere, from any device, you can help ensure that their day-to-day tasks can still be accomplished efficiently, no matter where they are!
4. With Remote Desktop Technology, You Can Lower Costs! ✔️
Wouldn't it be nice to say good-bye to some of your capital expenditures? By having virtual desktops at the core of your IT infrastructure, you can do just that! On-premise equipment, like servers, complex switching, or other hardware requirements become obsolete when you switch to virtual infrastructure.
Simply put, switching to virtual desktops, like Azure Virtual Desktop, will provide a more cost-friendly option for your organization, and helps you save on hardware costs, software licensing costs, and long-term maintenance and replacement costs for your on-premise equipment.
Check out the short demo video below on how to use Azure Virtual Desktop:
Remote Working Technology in Action (a Case Study)!
With the recent COVID-19 lockdowns, a national building company was forced to adapt to a remote work environment and move their users to a remote work platform. They turned to ProServeIT to help them validate that Azure Virtual Desktop would be the right decision for their organization and for assistance with designing and implementing the new Azure Virtual Desktop solution.
ProServeIT helped to provision and configure the required Azure and Office 365 resources for a Proof of Concept (POC), and assisted them with identifying the technical, environmental, and other dependencies of the POC plan. Then, ProServeIT provided insight into how the organization's users would experience Azure Virtual Desktop, including Azure Virtual Desktop published apps, and persistent and non-persistent Azure Virtual Desktops.
This national builder used the POC to prove that Azure Virtual Desktop was the right choice for their organization. The first 25 users now have remote access anywhere, on any device, providing a true Windows 10 desktop experience for their users. Further, because Azure Virtual Desktop is based on Azure consumption, the organization is saving on overall operational expenses - they pay only what they consume.
Ready to Explore Remote Working Technology?
Remote work has been widely adopted to fight COVID-19 and it is going to stick around long after the restrictions we’re currently seeing are lifted and we settle into the new semblance of “normal”, whatever that looks like. Like it or not, our lives and our businesses will not be going back to the way they were pre-pandemic. Many people will still work remotely, out of necessity or by choice, and businesses need to be prepared for that eventuality.
Azure Virtual Desktop can help you to explore remote work capabilities, and ensure that you’re providing your employees with the same desktop experience that they had on-premise, regardless of the device they’re using or where they’re signing in from! So, are you ready to explore Remote Working Technology and see if Azure Virtual Desktop is right for your organization? Let’s talk!
At ProServeIT, we’ve helped a number of organizations to explore their options. Our Proof of Concept will help you to deploy Azure Virtual Desktop for up to 25 of your users, so you can test out a full desktop virtualization environment and make sure that it fits your unique needs as an organization! Give us a shout and let’s get started!
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