Over the past two years, remote work has been pushed front and center in the enterprise. We are learning to become more flexible about where and how we work to fit in with hybrid collaboration. That is one of the factors driving the adoption of Azure Virtual Desktop and VDI across the industry. But that is just one good opportunity where organizations are turning to desktop virtualization for the answer.

VDI Use-case Summary:

- Complex and custom software that can benefit from cloud scale.

- Highly regulated and audited industries such as healthcare and financial services.

- Untrusted devices that require access to corporate data yet remain secure.

- Temporary desktops for mergers and acquisitions.

- Providing partners secure access to your systems.

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If you need more power, just hit the gas

There are a ton of different typical workload styles that fit great in the cloud. One example is the graphics workstation with intense video card requirements and a significant hunger for CPU’s. This is where the power of scaling can come in. When you virtualize your desktops, suddenly you have new control over the experience your users have. Now you can pump up the volume to 11 and make sure nothing is holding your graphic designers or developers back.

With GPU acceleration your users will have no problem running your critical graphics-intensive apps. You will want to make sure you select the right GPU that is geared towards your specific workload. One example, the NCasT4_v3-series boasts up to 4 NVIDIA T4 GPUs with 16 GB of memory in each VM. Of course, it is up to you to decide how much you spend based on workload needs.

Say there is a team that is using heavy duty, graphics intensive, desktops during the day. Around 5pm each day, most of them shut their computers down and sign off. In this case, with Azure Virtual Desktop you can implement scaling via Azure Automation. When your users are working during the day, you can allocate more hosts to the environment to be used. Then when it hits 5pm, you can deallocate hosts and take advantage of the cost savings.

Take advantage of infrastructure level security and compliance

Azure Virtual Desktop comes with security and compliance baked into the rivets. That means you can provide secure, reliable access to electronic health records (RHRs) and sensitive financial information. As financial and healthcare industries shift from paper-based to electronic records and workflows, virtual desktops provide a secure method of secure access to information.

Primarily, VDI enhances compliance by giving IT centralized control over configuration. This allows systems administrators to have tighter control over what patches and policies are running on systems with access to secure data. It also ensures that access to that data needs to flow through your security systems and prevents direct access from outside endpoints.

It can also be a real cost-saver for organizations facing strict scrutiny over their security practices. Utilizing VDI reduces the risk of using outside devices on the network. With the rise of bring your own device (BYOD) this makes it possible to minimize the typical hardware and software expense required to secure workloads in an auditable way.

Another benefit from moving your desktops to the cloud is a centralization of end-user support and management. That lets your technical staff free up their time for more important work items. Plus, if something goes wrong with maintenance on a node, other users will not be impacted at all.

Enhance your data security with simple abstraction

Hacks, data breaches, and all sorts of no-fun business has been on the rise steadily over the past few years. Look at these identity theft statistics from hackread.com. When you can separate the physical hardware employees are using from the critical data through abstraction, you gain a firewall against external attacks. Virtual desktops centralize and abstract more than just desktops.

One of the top entry-point targets in your organization is your remote employees. They can fall victim directly to data theft or accidentally click a link that installs malicious code into your network. Adding a degree of safety between users and your network might be an innovative idea.

Migrating to a VDI solution means moving desktops, data, and applications into a centralized repository. There are no longer physical computers for each user in your systems. Virtual machines are used and shared as needed for your workloads. In the end, all a user needs to connect is a simple thin client because all the actual work is being done in the background, securely.

Keep productivity up even in transition

Mergers and acquisitions can be an extremely complicated process to get through. Especially when it is important to keep everyone up to speed on the latest updates and execute customer deliverables. This is doubly true for complex IT infrastructures.

A survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2000 showed 75% of acquirers experienced problems integrating the IS department leading to lost opportunities and reduced revenue (Harrel and Higgins, 2002). When it comes to a successful merger, there needs to be serious attention given to the eventual architecture and interim solutions to secure systems. It can take a significant amount of time to consolidate the IS departments of two organizations.

Consider what a smooth integration process might look like. Everyone from both teams can get all their work done seamlessly all the while being secured. To ensure data access regardless of location you might utilize desktop and server virtualization while you finalize the longer-term architecture plans. This gives you the space required to slowly integrate the IT infrastructures together.

Give partners the access they need without risking anything more

Many organizations find themselves in situations where working with external parties, partners, would be particularly beneficial. Sometimes it is when you need to leverage a partner to funnel deals your way, or it could be a technical partner taking on some vital project work. Regardless of the need, it is important to use the same level of security and consideration given to company employees.

It is especially important that everyone gets access to the systems and data that they need to do their job without getting more visibility than is required. Often, it is tempting to provide partners with sub-par experiences to ensure security and keep expenses down. One strategy employed is to purchase and provide a laptop for every external partner or contractor. Instead, consider providing them with access into an Azure Virtual Desktop.

This will give the partner user access to your systems securely along with some bells and whistles to make your collaboration go smoother. Desktop as a Service (DaaS) gives everyone the tools they need to have a high-quality user experience and thrive in his hybrid work age.

Important considerations for DaaS

- Bandwidth usage for clients will be high so they will need high-speed internet access.

- Users will need to take time to learn the new system and how to connect.

- Depending on your DaaS provider, software and operating system licensing may end up being a concern.

While the solutions provided via DaaS are a wonderful way to make your desktop fleet more versatile and mobile, there are still some things to consider before diving in. All your clients will need to have ample bandwidth to get the best experience possible. Then, everyone needs to become familiar with the correct ways to use and connect to their virtual desktops. Plus, licensing managers will need to identify where they need to purchase new software to support new clients. The good news for Azure Virtual Desktop users is that there are programs to grandfather windows licenses in.

Help deciding whether DaaS fits your needs

Every organization needs to take a hard look at their desktop deployment strategy in this new and changing environment. With more employees, partners, and contractors accessing corporate networks and systems remotely, the cost of risk management is on the rise as well. It is important to realize that many of these challenges can be addressed easily with more modern desktop deployment strategies. Schedule a conversation with JumpRoom to find out how our platform and services can help your team adopt and take advantage of DaaS.