When you look at cloud adoption statistics around the world, a majority of offices have gone virtual for at least some of their business processes. Cloud adoption rates have skyrocketed in the last decade as companies have realised the benefits of cost savings coupled with improved productivity.
Approximately 94% of enterprises use cloud services and in 2020, 83% of enterprise workloads are expected to be fully in the cloud.
Being a big driver of cloud business solutions, Microsoft has been successful at anticipating where office workflows are going next, and the next trend they’re expecting is in virtual desktops.
Desktop workstations are just about the last piece of the technology infrastructure that are still tied to a non-cloud physical location. Our desktop computers hold all our files, folders, non-cloud and hybrid-cloud applications, email, and more.
The Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD), available globally as of September 2019, is designed to free desktops from being housed on a specific computer and instead host them in a virtual environment, allowing your “computer” to be accessible from any PC or mobile device, just like cloud applications are.
Microsoft’s WVD Features & Benefits
Windows Virtual Desktop runs your Windows operating system and everything that’s loaded onto it in a secure cloud environment, powered by Azure.
This makes your desktop available from anywhere while also offering a higher level of security for businesses, by having all their desktops housed virtually, rather than on individual computers and laptops.
With Microsoft throwing their weight behind desktop virtualization, we can expect this to speed adoption, as companies familiar with the Microsoft universe – Office 365, Azure, etc. – will feel much more comfortable using a cloud environment backed by the company that already has the most popular cloud solution on the market (Office 365).
What are some of the benefits of migrating from physical workstations to virtual ones? Here are several considerations and how they could positively enhance your business.
Easily Create Full Desktop Virtualization without Gateway Servers
If you have an Azure subscription, you can easily add virtual desktops for your users without needing to use any gateway servers. This reduces the cost for running virtual apps and desktops by removing the need for an additional server as a go-between.
Allow Your Users to Use Any Device for Access
Windows Virtual Desktop is fully compatible to run on Windows, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android devices. So, your employees have the option to use several ways to connect to their WVD.
You avoid compatibility issues if you have some remote workers using Macs and others using Windows PCs and can improve productivity by offering the flexibility to access their workstation from their preferred device.
Better Security Over Your Digital Assets
When employees are working from traditional workstations, their emails, software and files are being housed on a physical device, meaning your business’s digital assets are spread out over multiple computers.
Those computers can crash and suffer data loss, laptops can be stolen, and devices can be left at risk because they’re not being updated properly.
Using Windows Virtual Desktops gives you complete control over your business workstations because all the data is being stored in your Azure virtual environment. This means that you won’t lose anything should a computer be stolen or suffer damage.
Ensuring all the workstations in your office are regularly updated with security patches is also easy as well as automated. You can also quickly deploy new apps to your team through a control panel or using your own internal Microsoft Store.
Deploy New Desktops in Minutes
When you have a new hire, you can have a WVD provisioned to them in just minutes. There’s no having to “clean” a former employee’s computer and set up all the proper apps on it, instead they’ll be getting a new desktop environment every time with everything they need.
For example, you could save a WVD configuration for different departments of your organisation that contains the business applications pertinent to them. Then when you have a new user in that department, all you have to do is deploy that particular configuration for the employee.
Reduces Hardware Costs
When you’re using traditional computers for workstations, you need to buy business computers with the right configuration, memory, and storage space. When you’re using virtual desktops, you can use PCs with minimal specifications to access the virtual environment.
All the storage, memory, and processing power are coming from the cloud server, so there is much less demand put on the device you’re using to access your WVD.
Adds to Business Continuity
Business continuity is a big reason that companies adopt cloud solutions. When their data is safely stored in a virtual environment, a company can be resilient in the case of a natural or manmade disaster happening at their premises.
With desktops that are fully virtual, your infrastructure stays intact no matter what, and employees are able to access their workstations and data from any internet connected device and from any location to keep your business operational.
Learn More About Complete Workstation Virtualization
Connected Platforms has a team of virtualization engineers that have the expertise to guide your business towards the right cloud technology recommendations and install, implement, and maintain your system as your business needs evolve.
Contact us today for a free consultation or to find out more about our IT solutions and how they can help businesses like yours. Call (07) 3062 6932 or book a coffee meeting online.
