Update: This article was last updated on 24th May 2021 to reflect the accuracy and up-to-date information on the page.
With time, new and innovative technological trends are emerging in the market. Previously, businesses related to diverse fields across the globe found it hard to deal with factors like data storage and safety, work flexibility, scalability, etc.
To help them out, cloud technology came into the picture. It has helped them become more productive and mobile. On that same line of technology, there is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, also known as VDI.
Almost every business owner feels difficulty in managing the IT-related chaos of on-premise computer systems. Earlier in time, the experts of technology got to think if it would be possible to make people use virtual desktops at work. That was how the vision of hosted VDI or hosted desktops was once conceived and started emerging in the market.
If you, as a business owner do not know about the concept of VDI and cloud-hosted desktops, let’s make you familiar with it first –
What is Hosted VDI(Virtual Desktop Infrastructure)?
To support your business in this modern age of technology, specific problems like system malfunctioning, security breaches, inability to share and access data remotely, etc. are quite common. Simply put, VDI can help you in dealing with them all.
Hosted VDI is a technology that enables the creation of virtual desktops on virtual machines (VM) in the cloud environment. With the help of it, businesses can get personalized virtual desktops for each of their employees along with the benefits of data security.
The adoption rate of VDI is growing with time all across the globe with an expected CAGR of 27% during the forecast period 2016 – 2023. More and more businesses are willing to utilize this advanced technology to support their business growth plans.
There are a number of hosted desktop providers in the market that offer the customers with virtual desktops with multiple subscription plans.
Similarly, you can do that too. But it is important that you know and understand this technology and how it can impact your business before switching to it.
Key Benefits of Using Cloud Hosted Virtual Desktops
1. Overall Reduction in Operational Expenses
A lot of business owners think that buying desktop computer systems is just a one-time investment. But it is only half the truth. There are recurring expenses of maintaining those systems as well. If not upgraded with time to the latest technology, the purchased systems may become obsolete and useless. This implies that new systems need to be bought to continue the work.
Hosted VDI comes to the rescue in this regard. Most of the computing tasks take place at the cloud server where the virtual desktop is hosted, and not at the local desktop. This simply means that you do not need to continue re-investing in hi-tech computers for your employees. You can even take the obsolete PCs you have and use them to access the hosted desktops.
Moreover, when you opt for virtual desktop hosting, the providers take care of setup, migration, and maintenance, eliminating the need for a dedicated IT team.
2. Flexibility to Work Remotely
How people do business today is not the same as before. Even the workforce hired in any organization look for ways to be flexible at work. Just being able to work in office hours is a thing of the past. To be able to grow your business globally, you need to give your team access to work-related data, no matter where they are.
Obviously, one cannot just carry his office computer system everywhere he/she goes. But certain business-related things can only be done by accessing the required data and applications in real-time. Cloud Hosted desktops can help businesses greatly in this aspect.
With the help of this technology, you and your team can access the virtual desktops anywhere and anytime with the help of Internet-enabled devices. Easy access to these desktops no matter where you are will ultimately result in better performance at work and higher work productivity.
Using this technology, you and your employees won’t need to wait till they reach the office and start using office computers to do the urgent tasks.
3. Better Control Over Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Trend
BYOD is a current trend followed at work by diverse small and big organizations across the world. They allow their employees to bring their personal devices to the workplaces to do the office work.
Next to the increasing popularity of this trend, there are some challenges as well. For instance, some companies find it hard to keep track of confidential information being shared across personal devices. This may turn out to become highly problematic for them.
As a solution to all such challenges, hosted VDI is BYOD-friendly. It helps businesses in overcoming the common challenges related to this trend by connecting users to virtual desktops seamlessly. Furthermore, business owners can have total control over the virtual machines.
They can also keep a check on the activities done by their employees and teams. Managing access given to different users becomes much easier with this next-gen technology.
If you are confused about how to choose amongst so many VDI providers then read this checklist on how to choose the right VDI solutions provider.
4. High-Level Data Security
Your business-related data saved on a traditional desktop computer in your office may get lost in several ways. Either someone can steal the data, or the system may crash unexpectedly. In any way, your business can get affected by the data loss. To be on the safe side, you can switch to VDI and prevent these possible situations from occurring.
The data and applications of hosted desktops get saved on the cloud. So, it will stay safe and secure in case of unexpected events at the local premises. Even if the physical device over which you access these virtual desktops gets lost or stolen, the data is still safe as the data is on the cloud.
If you have previously suffered a lot because of losing critical business-related data, you can get helped by opting for cloud-hosted virtual desktops. All the virtual desktop hosting providers that offer virtual desktops ensure data safety using advanced security methods like data encryption, multi-factor authentication, Intrusion Detection, and Prevention System (IDS & IPS), etc.
This simply means you can live with peace of mind, without worrying about your business data.
5. Ease of Focusing on Core Business Processes
Running a business with all the related issues is not an easy thing, no matter how big or small it is. Use of advanced software and applications requires the equivalent hardware capabilities. You can’t run the latest version of Photoshop on Windows 98.
Sometimes, it becomes hard for business owners to tackle the hardware-related challenges. Even having an IT team doesn’t help much. They get so much involved in them that they lose focus on their core business activities.
All these issues can be best resolved by VDI technology. As per your needs, you can easily contact the hosted virtual desktop provider to give you virtual desktops of any specific configuration. Also, their IT support team is available to help you out round-the-clock.
By transferring the responsibility of hardware set-up, control, and maintenance to the provider, you will be able to focus more on the core business activities and plan for growth.
To have a better understanding, watch this video down below and compare hosted VDI with in-house VDI.
Conclusion
There is not just one, but several benefits of using Virtual Desktop Infrastructure into your business as detailed above and that too in which desktops are provisioned on the cloud. Depending on the unique needs of your business, you can get secure, safe, and high-performing virtual desktops available to you. It’s time to reinvent your office with cloud-hosted virtual desktops.
Do you want to speak to one of our VDI specialists? Feel free to call us at – 855-ACE-IT-UP or check out our VDI solutions.